


Danganronpa- Reaping Soul

by ThePuzzler13



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Blood, Death, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, F/M, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Fanganronpa, LGBTQ+ Ship(s), LGBTQ+ character(s), M/M, Multi, Murder Mystery, Mystery, OC, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original killing game, Thriller, class trial, danganronpa - Freeform, lots of death, lots of dying, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:34:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 58,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28183227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePuzzler13/pseuds/ThePuzzler13
Summary: Josuke Suda has hated the infamous Ikiruyume Academy all his life. He considers it to be just a platform where already perfect kids become better while the less-perfect kids get nothing. However, he still wants to join, as he's tracking down a murderer that may be connected to the school. He was expecting it to be a somewhat normal school- not like this.PROLOGUE- COMPLETE!CHAPTER 1- COMPLETE!CHAPTER 2- IN PROGRESSCHAPTER 3- NOT STARTEDCHAPTER 4- NOT STARTEDCHAPTER 5- NOT STARTEDCHAPTER 6- NOT STARTEDEPILOGUE- NOT STARTEDDiscord Server: https://discord.gg/HaWEYTM
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	1. The Letter from Ikiruyume

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, thank you for choosing to read this fangan out of all the other fangans in not just Ao3, but other websites as well. I am very happy to finally have this story on the internet, and am excited to see what other people think about it. Writing this story has been a wonderful- albeit stressful experience, and I cannot wait to share it all with you guys. I hope you enjoy this fangan as much as I do, and please don't be afraid to leave theories, reviews, etc. down in the comments!
> 
> Anyways, presenting: Danganronpa: Reaping Soul!

“You’re late, Mr. Suda!”

I walked into the police office with joy in my heart. Clutching in my hand was a letter, no not just that, a letter to the one and only Ikiruyume Academy. _Finally,_ I thought to myself. _After all that work and deliberation, I finally got a hold of the letter._ I was so happy that I didn’t even notice my boss yelling at me.

“What’s got you in a giddy mood?” Mr. Honda asked. “Usually you’re all walled up in your office, either trying to connect loose ends of the case or just moping around.” He then looked into my hand, and said. “Ah.”

“Look, Mr. Suda.” my boss said to me. “Now, since this is the only time you’ve been late, the only thing I demand is an explanation. You’ve never been late ever since you came here, so why is it now that you’re 1 hour late?”

“Well,” I spoke to him. “I was spending that hour finally managing to get my hands… on this.” I slammed the letter onto the table, with the words “Ikiruyume Academy” printed on the top in dark ink. “It’s taken me over a year at this point to get my hands on it… but I did it.”

“Ikiruyume?” One of my coworkers called out. “But don’t you hate that place, Josuke? You constantly ramble on and on about how it’s just a platform for the rich to get richer, and to put kids on a pedestal and all that stuff!”

“I know. I’m not changing my mind on that at all.” I said, “In the end, the people working there are all money-grabbing scumbags who would rather spend their days making already perfect teenagers even better, while the poor and uneducated are left to rot.”

“Y’know,” Mr. Honda continued. “For someone who still claims to hate the place, you sure are giddy about going there.”

“Oh, aren’t you one to talk.” I said. “And besides, you all know the damn reason I’m going to that gold-plated hellhole in the first place.”

“Ah now, what if this is just another dead end?” Mr. Honda continued.

“It’s not. I’ve spent way too much time working on getting this letter, I will find the culprit.”

“That’s enough, you two.” the boss said. “Get to work. Oh- and Josuke… congrats.”

“Thanks.”

Before I could enter my office, my boss gave me a look of great concern. He was signalling me to come over to where he was.

“Oh yeah, Josuke, I hate to tell you this, but there’s been two more this morning.” my boss said. “I’ve placed their files on your desk, hopefully you can still work on this during your time at the academy.”

“Two more?” I gasped, before getting my composure back. “I see, that makes it 53.”

“I still don’t believe it.” Mr. Honda said to me. “53 kidnappings this year, and not even one piece of evidence or testimony? This whole thing is getting out of hand…”

I headed to my office and sat down. I still haven’t opened the letter, but knowing the academy, getting a letter sent to you just means that you’ve been selected to go. Ah, Ikiruyume Academy. They say if you attend even a year there, you’re set for life. To many people, it’s like the school is the entire world. Here’s the thing- only certain students can get in. You have to be considered ‘ultimate’ by the school’s standards to even get in. If you somehow manage to get in, whether you were scouted by the school itself or you applied a god-fuck number of times, you are considered an ‘Ultimate Student’. These Ultimate students include the Ultimate Makeup Artist, Ultimate Public Speaker, Ultimate Chessmaster, at least, those were a few famous ones in the past. Makeup artist started her own makeup line, the public speaker became a politician, and the chessmaster plays in tournaments all across the world. I don’t know what people I’ll have in my class, but I do know that if they’re all prestigious brats so high on their horse that they see the clouds, I will hate every single one of them.

I looked at the files my boss gave me. “Name: Kawabata Hidetada. Age: 24. Occupation: Construction. Sex: Male.” I put down the file and took a look at the other one. “Name: Kaga Fuyuko. Age: 19. Occupation: Unemployed. Sex: Female.” This truly was an epidemic of kidnappings, considering that between now and last night there were two more. Heh, maybe Ikiruyume is actually the one behind all this and the victims are just poor souls who have to teach there. I thought.

Welp, guess I should stop beating around the bush, I guess, and crack open this letter. I opened up the letter, pulled out the contents and read it aloud.

_Dear Josuke Suda,_

_After reading your application to attend this academy, we have accepted your offer to join the 67th class of Ikiruyume. Due to your skills in investigation and murder cases, we have given you the title of ‘Ultimate Criminal Investigator’._

_Please make preparations as soon as possible to move to your dorm room. When you arrive, you will be introduced to your fellow classmates before the year begins._

_There is no need to reply to this letter. We will know if you accepted if you arrive at the academy tomorrow._

_We wish for you the best of luck in this new path, hoping that we can become the greatest school that has ever lived._

_With regards-_  
_The Ikiruyume Headmaster._

Okay.

_Okay, okay, okay, okay._

I knew from other people that Ikiruyume was very weirdly-worded in its letters, but this is just- what even is this. First of all, the ‘Ultimate Criminal Investigator’. I would have preferred something like ‘Ultimate Detective’ or ‘Ultimate Murderer Hunter’, but the criminal investigator works fine. Second, why didn’t the headmaster write their name on the letter? I thought they were joking when they said that no one knows the headmaster’s true identity, but I guess not. Lastly, _tomorrow? How long has it been since I submitted that request?_

Regardless, it’s not like I care about the title or headmaster’s name that badly. Hell, I would have never even considered touching an applicant form until recently. After all, I’m only going to Ikiruyume for one reason, to find a murderer.

“Well then, I’m off.” I said to my coworkers. “And I won’t be back for a while… apparently the school wants me tomorrow.”

“Alright then, but make sure that you send me a report every two weeks, okay? You’re not the only one looking for them, you know.” My boss said to me,

“Yeah, yeah.” I replied. “Anyways, I’m off, see you in three years, I guess.”

“Oh, one more thing…” Mr. Honda said to me. “Make sure you’re careful. It’s night right now, and I don’t want you to-”

“-get kidnapped?” I chuckled. “Look, I’ll be fine. If this random kidnappings are connected to Ikiruyume somehow, I’ll let you know.”

There was a look in Mr. Honda’s eyes as he looked at me, it looked both hopeful and worrying at the same time. “Be careful, though. So far it’s the 57th kidnapping this year, and it’s only March.”

“57?” I stuttered, in sudden shock. “Wasn’t it only 53 eight hours ago?”

“Four more came in.” my boss said, “I’ve given them to one of your coworkers, as I’m assuming you’ll be busy with schoolwork.”

“Look, just be careful, okay?” Mr. Honda replied. “I know that you essentially carry a gun everywhere you go, but still…”

“You know, for someone that constantly claims that I’m just some shut-in NEET looking for some murderer, you’re being awfully considerate of my well-being.” I said in a snarky tone.

Before the conversation could continue, I left the building and got on my bicycle. I’ve ridden this road many times during the night, I essentially know all the alleyways like the back of my head. Eventually, I arrived at my apartment building uptown, and immediately got on my computer to look up more information on Ikiruyume Academy, and the 67th class that I’m gonna be stuck with.

“Huh, that’s weird.” I looked up the academy and clicked on what seemed to be their website. “The headmaster’s name is nowhere to be found, nor any other former headmasters, either. As for the class…” I directed my cursor over to the button saying “The 67th class” and clicked it. “Oh... “ I said when the words “Student #16: Ultimate Criminal Investigator” appeared onscreen. “No pictures or anything, not even names; just the student number and their talents.” As I looked more and more at the class list, the more confused I was. “Ultimate Boxer, Ultimate Hacker, Ultimate Philosopher, that will be a fun one, Ultimate Carpenter…” But the strangest thing was that it seemed some of the students were missing. “Assuming there’s 16 students in this class, then we’re missing… around half the list.” I scrolled to the bottom and the words ‘Just a snippet of the next class!’ was printed in bright neon green. Were the developers of this website high or something…?

“Well, it’ll be an interesting three years, that’s for sure.” I said to myself. “Hopefully a lot shorter- I just want to get in, find the murderer, and get out.” As I drifted to sleep, only one thought crossed my mind. I have to find them. I thought.

_I have to find the bastard that killed my sister._


	2. Meeting the Ultimates- Part I

I hate sleeping.

Okay, let me rephrase that. I hate having weird dreams and nightmares while sleeping, which, for a long time now, has been a frequent occurrence. I keep having this one dream over and over again, to the point where I remember it vividly. I was bicycling down the street to my house after a long day at work. It was raining, and I forgot my umbrella. I walked to the front of the house, opened the door, and found it eerily quiet. I then smelt something rotten coming from the kitchen, so I went there,  _ only to find my dead sister  _ **_covered in blood with a knife sticking out of her chest and everything was destroyed and-_ **

Waking up drenched in sweat, my vision blurred around me as I tried to get those horrible images out of my head. It was a nightmare beyond terror, despite the fact that I had seen it with my own eyes. As I finally regained my sight, I went back to sleep hoping to not come across that dream ever again, but then I realized.

“This… isn’t the apartment.”

_ Must be another dream.  _ I thought. Before anything bad happened… wherever this is, I pinched myself to get me out of this nightmare.

And I pinched myself again.

And again.

And again.

And again…

Eventually, a red mark appeared on the spot on my forearm I was pinching. I looked around the room to see if I had finally returned back, but instead, it was just the same neon-red walls and navy blue carpets. But as I tried to figure out what was going on, a sudden thought came to me.

“I’ve been kidnapped, haven’t I?”

I tried denying it at first.  _ Surely this is just some advanced dream. _ I thought.  _ There’s no way something like this happened to me?  _

I brushed my hand on the carpet floors, hoping that by some miracle, it was fake, and this was all a dream. But to my horror, it felt as real as everything I’ve ever touched. There’s no denying it now, I’m victim #58.

But y’know, for someone who’s been kidnapping people left and right with no evidence for the past few months, it honestly doesn’t even feel like a kidnapping. At least, not the types that I deal with, which is none since I’m a murder investigator.

_ Heh, that’s a good one.  _ I let out a small chuckle, before beginning to investigate the place.  _ The door’s probably locked, so I might as well investigate this room.  _ I looked around to see if there’s any clues, plus so I could get a scope of what this room had to offer.

There was the bed I was sleeping on, a desk & chair, a dresser, a small table, and a half-open door that led to some sort of bathroom. My first objective was to see if there was anything inside the desk. I opened the top drawer to find-

“Absolutely nothing. Figures, I guess.” Unfortunately, it was the same for the other two desk drawers as well. I walked over to the dresser drawers to find hundreds of clothes that matched the ones I was wearing right now: blue vest, dark jeans, a white button-up underneath, the only thing missing really was my hat and tie.

_ Well, at least I have a change of clothes.  _ I thought to myself. Most of my searches were fruitless, unfortunately. There was nothing of use in the bathroom, nor was there anything on top of, underneath, or inside the table (apparently it comes with a detachable top). 

I looked at the door that I haven’t tried out yet. At first, I automatically assumed it was locked. After all, I was just kidnapped. With bravery, courage, and other synonyms for not scared in my step, I turned the knob…

...and the door swung right open.

“Huh… it wasn’t locked after all.” I said out loud. On the other side of the doorway was a hallway, with dark walls and a quartz-white floor. The hallway was laden with other doors, and nearby, a pink-haired girl with a purple dress was standing near one of the doors. As I spoke out loud, she started looking directly at me.

“Uhh.. who are you?” I stammered.

“Huh, guess I’m not the only one stuck here!” The girl exclaimed. “Y’know, when I woke up here, I thought I would be all alone! But I guess not, now that you’re here!”

I stared at her with even more confusion. There was a certain amount of upbeat energy in her eyes, like she just wasn’t even kidnapped. “Well, if you were also kidnapped like I was, then I guess you’re in the same situation as me.”

“I guess?” The girl questioned me. Her voice, her look, it almost felt like I knew her from somewhere… but before I could inquire about that, she started talking again.

“Well, under better circumstances, I guess I would say ‘nice to meet you’, but well, y’know.” The girl said to me.

“Well, if we’re going to be stuck here, I just want to know, who are you?” I questioned her. She immediately had this face of confusion. “You don’t know me?” She stammered. “You must have seen me somewhere or you heard of me someplace! Anyways, I’m Ruka Amari, the Ultimate TV Star!”

Suddenly, I started to remember who she was.  _ That’s right.  _ I thought.  _ She’s a famous actress in not just movies and TV shows, but also has her own talk show as well… ‘Amari no Mensetsu’, was it? _

“Heh, so you’re an Ultimate as well?” I said. “Very well then, I am Josuke Suda, the Ultimate Criminal Investigator. It’s not exactly a fitting name, but hey, it works, and I’m moving on.”

“Well,” Ruka continued. “If the others here are all Ultimates, then I guess it can’t be that bad, right?”

“How do you know the others are Ultimates?” I asked, quietly praying that her assumption was wrong. Ruka looked at me and said “I’ve met a few of them already. Probably not all of them, but it’s probably the case. Haven’t exactly met any non-Ultimates, yet.”

I was about to say something, but as I did that, someone on the other side of the hallway came out of the room, walking towards us. From here, it looked like a boy, with slightly frizzled white hair, and he was wearing a tuxedo with a red tie slightly falling off. He had thin glasses and fancy black shoes as well.

“Uhhh… hey.” Ruka stammered out to the boy, hoping for a reply. He looked up at us and said “Heh, guess I’m not the only one here.”

“It would seem that way.” I said to him. I was about to continue, but I was interrupted by him. “Well, it’s not like we’re in any immediate danger then, so I suppose we should look around for an exit?”

“That seems like a good idea,” Ruka continued. “But I think we should try to find the others here as well. If we’re going to find an exit, we should try to get everyone together, Mr. …, sorry, what’s your name?”

“Ah, it seems I forgot to introduce myself.” the boy replied. “Anyways, my name is Heizo Kudo, and I have been given the designation of Ultimate Philosopher.”

_ Ultimate Philosopher? I remember seeing that on the website… So I guess this is him.  _ I thought to myself. 

“Well, I’m Josuke Suda, Ultimate Criminal Investigator.” I said to Heizo. “And this is-”

“Ruka Amari, the Ultimate TV Star. I already know of her.” Heizo replied. “Anyways, now that that’s out of the way, shall we begin looking for the others?”

_ This Heizo guy is no nonsense. _ I thought to myself again.  _ Either I’m going to hate his guts, or we’ll get along just fine. _

“We shouldn’t waste any time.” Heizo added. “After all, considering the predicament we are currently in, it is possible that someone is already dead-”

“Hold on!” Ruka screamed. “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, nothing.”

_...nevermind. I guess we won’t get along after all. Hopefully we find the exit soon so I can get out of here and away from these two. _

Nearby, I saw a door with a garbage can symbol on it. While it was very faint, I heard voices coming from the otherside. I couldn’t make anything out, but it sounded like they were…  _ arguing? _

“Well, better check it out, maybe there’s an exit.” I opened the door to find probably one of the worst sights known to man. “Is that- is that a fucking ladder?  _ To a garbage room? _ ” I guess whoever designed this building was higher than the guy who designed Ikiruyume’s website. As I climbed up the ladder, I saw the source of the argument. Two men, one was wearing a plaid shirt with overalls and had pale skin, and the other guy was darker-skinned and was wearing a sports jersey. The guy in overalls was digging through a pile of trash, tossing things out as he dug. The argument went on like this:

“I’m telling you, Tadakuni, this is a waste of time!”

“It’s not gonna be! If our kidnapper is gonna hide something from us, why not put it in the place no one will want to look?”

“I- look, I’ll just leave you alone to deal with that trash… oh!”

The tall jersey-wearer looked at me, then looked at the man in the trash and screamed “Hey! Tadakuni! We got company!”

The man immediately got himself out of the trash and ran over to me. “Well hello hello! I know this isn’t the best time to introduce ourselves this way, but I am Tadakuni Ohashi, and not only am I the heir to the Ohashi Company, but I am also the Ultimate Carpenter!”

_ This guy… not even a minute into his introduction and he’s already talking about being an heir. Talk about self-centered,  _ I thought to myself. 

“Oh,” Tadakuni continued. “It’s your turn to do introductions, Jacky-boy!” The jersey-wearer cringed at that statement, and it looked like he was about to murder Tadakuni before sighing, and then saying “First off all: Tadakuni, don’t call me Jacky-boy.” His fist visibly clenched as he said that. “Anyways, I’m Jackson Samuel, the Ultimate Basketball Player. I’m also a transfer student from the North American division of Ikiruyume.”

_ A transfer student…  _ I thought.  _ This will be interesting… _

“Well, I’m Josuke Suda, the Ultimate Criminal Investigator.” I said to them. “And… just a question, what was Tadakuni doing earlier?”

“He was wasting his time, looking for ‘clues’ and whatnot.” Jackson grumbled. “Seriously, why the hell would anyone hide anything in the goddamn garbage bin?”

“It’s because no one would ever think to look there, and that’s what our captors were thinking!” Tadakuni beamed. “And besides, how could I, the great Tadakuni Ohashi, ever be wrong.”

_ As annoying as he is, I actually hope he’s right about finding a clue.  _ I thought to myself. 

“Well, Tadakuni, why don’t you keep looking for these aforementioned clues.” I said. “And Jackson, why don’t you make sure he doesn’t get hurt?”

“I-... ugh, fine.” Jackson grumbled as I made my way down the ladder.  _ Seriously, who thought a ladder in a garbage room was a good idea? _

“Hey guys, I found two more- oh.” I said when I left the room, only to find no one else.  _ Must have already left to look for others.  _ I thought. 

In front of me was a large door, larger than any of the other doors in the hallway, except for one on the other side of a similar size and design. I opened the door to find a large room, almost like a common room, with a large statue inside of it. The large statue was of a man I didn’t recognize, and three people who I didn’t know were surrounding it, looking for… something.

One of the people, a short white-haired girl with a light-blue dress came running over to me. She had a child-like appearance and it almost felt like my soul was being calmed just by existing around her.

The little girl then spoke to me. “Ah, hey! Are you okay? You look exhausted, is there anything I can do to help?” There was a huge smile on her face, as if she wanted me to be hurt so she could ‘help’ me or whatever. “No thanks.” I said. “And besides, you haven’t even told me your name, why should I let you help me with anything if I don’t even know what to call you?”

“Ah, I’m sorry!” the girl replied. “I’m Eho Goto, the Ultimate Charity Worker! Pleased to meet you!”

“Josuke Suda, Ultimate Criminal Investigator.” I replied. “Anyways, I-”

“Eho, could you please keep helping us with investigating?” a girl, more mature-looking, called over to us. She had blonde hair in a bun, and was wearing a labcoat with a NASA t-shirt underneath. “Oh, I see.” the girl replied. “I’m Kaiya Fukunaga, by the way. I am the Ultimate Astrophysicist.” 

“So, Kaiya and Eho.” I replied. “What exactly are you doing?” Kaiya looked up at me and said “I was observing this statue and noticed some… irregularities. There are multiple crevices that seem to not have been made naturally, but with some sort of tool. Perhaps this statue contains something related to here.”

“I see…” I noted. I looked at the crevice that Kaiya was pointed to and sure enough, it was definitely not man-made. “You could probably put a ruler or something in there.” I said.

“Well, then, I’ll go try to find one!” Eho spoke. But before she went running off, the third person came to her and stopped Eho. The other guy was a male, was wearing some sort of nerdy t-shirt, and had very dark hair. It seemed as if he also had a camera around his neck. “Oh, Josuke. I’m Tetsu Moriai, by the way. Ultimate Cameraman, the man behind the camera filming movies like the Paytrix, Plasma Ball Battles, and Dino Land!” 

“Well,” I questioned. “I’ve only ever seen one of those movies, although I will say the camerawork is not something to write home about.”

“That’s the beauty, but also the true horrors of the camera!” Tetsu screamed. “If it’s amazing enough, no one ever notices it!”

“Ah- I see.” I said, trying to make it look like I was interested. “But for now, can we go back to investigation?”

“Alright, alright.” Tetsu acknowledged. “I just want to find the source of the strange sound I’ve been hearing.”

“Strange sound?” I questioned.

“I have been hearing it too.” Kaiya added. “But as of now, it is not important.”

“Obviously it’s probably important!” Eho mentioned. “I don’t hear it, but I think we should check it out!”

“Alright.” Tetsu said. “It’s coming from over there. Tetsu pointed to a small door that looked like it was leading into a closet. I slowly approached the door before finally starting to hear the sound. It almost sounded like…  _ music?  _ At least, some sort of music. I went up to the door, but as I went to grab the doorknob, I felt something run up my spine.  _ Was this… fear? Why am I so afraid? It’s not like I haven’t been in horrifying situations before…  _ I shook it off and swung the door open as fast as I could.

And there… was the source of the strange music.

  
  
  
  



	3. Meeting the Ultimates- Part II

I opened the door to find a closet, filled with cleaning supplies and different cleaning chemicals.  _ For what seems to be a storage closet, it certainly is very spacious.  _ I thought to myself. But as I looked down, I found the source of the strange music. Sitting on the floor, was a girl wearing a red tuxedo/dress combo with long, dirty blonde hair with a trumpet in hand. I stared at the girl, and she stared back. It felt like eternity before one of us spoke, when suddenly…

“What. Are you. Doing?” The girl spoke to me, in a harsh tone. She looked at me like she was ready to commit murder, which is probably the last thing I would expect to happen here. I then replied to her with “I was hearing some sort of strange sound, so I decided to investigate the sour- ow!” Without even realizing it, the girl hit me in the head with her trumpet case. 

I almost fell to the ground, before saying “What the hell was that for?” The girl looked me in the eyes and spoke as if she was giving a speech. “Now listen here, peasant. I am Shoken Miki, the Ultimate Trumpeter, and the lead musician of the Jazzaphones. Now. When a lady like me is practising her instrument, you never walk in on her playing unless she specifically requests it! Understand!”

“Practising?” I questioned. “We’ve been kidnapped with no information on why we’re here, who did this, or where this is, and all you can think about is getting slightly better on your glorified noise machine?”

“I-” Shoken responded, not knowing what to say, before slamming the closet door and resuming practice. I sighed and said “Brats like her… they’re the reason I hate Ultimates so much.”

“What did you say?” Tetsu questioned. “Didn’t hear ya.”

“Oh, nothing.” I responded. “At least, nothing important.” I got a few suspicious looks from Kaiya and a questioning look from Eho, but Tetsu seemed happy with the answer.

“Well,” Tetsu added. “She only acts that way if she doesn’t know you at first. If she knows you, she’s a good person, deep down.”

“You say that like you and Shoken have met each other before.” Kaiya added. “Am I wrong?” Tetsu suddenly had a look of panic on his face, before coming to his senses and saying “Ah, I remember she and her band were making the OST for a movie I was working on. I did get to communicate with her about how some of the shots will align with the beats of the song, and honestly she’s very cold at first, but the more you talk to her, the more she warms up to you.”

“Great.” I sighed. “Not only are we stuck in god-knows where, but we’re also trapped with a tsundere as well. This really could not get any worse.”

“Anyways,” I continued. “I’m gonna keep looking around, you three stay safe, ok? I really don’t want any deaths.”

I found a door that said ‘School Store + Warehouse’ on it, and decided to go from there. I opened the door to find a large warehouse, filled with all sorts of utilities, as well as a little booth selling all sorts of things, from dolls, to jewelry, to rope, to…  _ what the hell is a Man’s Nut? _

The warehouse was huge. It was filled to the brim with shelves of everything one could need. Food, water, extra clothing, and some notebooks with pencils, to name a few.  _ Whoever made this must have been trying to survive the apocalypse.  _

But as I looked in one of the corridors, I saw a tall man, no shorter than 6’0”, wearing a hoodie and very long jeans. The hoodie was black, with only a few red shapes that looked like scars. He was looking through a bunch of items, carefully inspecting the whole shelf. I could faintly hear “Not here… not here… not here… not here…goddammit, where is it?”

I walked up to him, hoping to get to know who he is. But as soon as I got near him, he looked directly at me. There was a glare in his eye that felt like he was trying to ward off anyone trying to approach him. Trying to be helpful, I asked him “Are you… looking for something?”

The man immediately turned around to face me and before pondering a moment, before replying “No.”

“Huh?” I replied back, wondering if I was just mishearing him. “That’s weird, I thought you were saying something abou-”

“Listen.” The man replied back, in his deep, low voice. “I am not looking for anything in particular, just something that could explain what’s going on.” 

“Sheesh, alright.” I said. “By the way, I’m Josuke Suda, the Ultimate Criminal Investigator. You?”

The man looked at the ground for what felt like an eternity, before replying “Teiljo Taro. Call me by either name, I don’t care.”

“Alright, Taro.” I said to him. “What’s your Ultimate Talent? Everyone I’ve met so far has one, so what about you?”

Taro sighed. “I don’t care if the others have one, but here’s the thing: I don’t. Never had one, probably never will. I’m just an ordinary kid with no fucking talent whatsoever.” Taro looked at the ceiling. “And honestly, I don’t want one. I hate Ultimates and what they stand for, even if it’s for fame and money, I’d rather stay out of it.”

_ You and me both, Taro, although I don’t know how you would react to an Ultimate like me saying it.  _ I thought to myself.

“Well, I’m gonna go back to investigating this place. Let me know if you find anything.” I asked Taro. The last thing I heard before leaving the warehouse was an annoyed grunt.  _ Me too, Taro. Me too. _

Nearby, I saw another door that seemed even larger than the one that I used to get in the room with the statue in the hallway. On the other sides, I heard weird noises of something being repeatedly punched or kicked, as well as the screaming of… god who knows at this point. Concerned, I gently opened the door… and what I found will be ingrained in my mind forever.

“HIYAAAHHH!”  _ *thunk* _

“Keep it up, soon we’ll be out of here!”

“Got it! AAYAAAHHH!”  _ *thunk* _

“One more should do it, Zenko!”

“AAAAHHHH!”  _ *slightly louder thunk* _

_ What… the fuck? _

What I saw were two people, one of them being a tall-but-skinny orange haired man wearing a bandana punching into the wall, and the other was a girl, around the same height, cheering him on. And as if I was just prey to orange-haired beasts, the punching guy turned his head toward me with dilated, fixated eyes, before charging straight at me with a deafening scream. As I quietly accepted the death that was charging me in the face, the terrifying boy stopped immediately in front of me, grabbed my hand, and shook it as hard as he could.

“HELLO FRIEND! IT IS VERY NICE TO MEET YOU HERE IN THIS PLACE! TOGETHER WE WILL FIND A WAY OUT-”

“Knock it off.” I said, sternly. The man quickly retracted his hand, and immediately started apologizing. “Sorry! Sorry! I am very sorry for disturbing you!”

“Hey hey,” the girl said, looking into the crazy guy’s eyes. “I think we should stop taking down the walls for now. You’re going to hurt your hands and feet if you keep doing this.”

“Alright, alright.” I interrupted. “I’m assuming you two are also Ultimates?”

“Mhm.” The girl said. “Allow me to introduce myself, I am Chimaki Kawai, the Ultimate… Choreographer.”

“Huh? You is a korey-og-rafer?” the man stuttered, trying to understand what Chimaki had just said. Chimaki replied. “Yes, I am a Choreographer. I plan dance routines and such for movies, TV Shows, theatrical productions, and so on. You may know me as the one who directed the 2018 theatre version of  _ Blue Bird  _ all the way back.”

“Thank you, Chimaki.” I said. “Now… who are you?” I turned to the orange-haired man, only to find a look of shock and disbelief.

“W-W-WHAT?” The man screamed. “YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM? Heh, fine. Fool, I shall tell you who I am. In the land where violence is performed for sport I am known as the  _ Orange Menace!  _ In the place of rigorous training I am the man known as the  _ Man who will never go down!  _ But you, my friends, may call me Zenko Tokuda, the Ultimate Wrestler!”

_ W… I- what? _

“Now then, fancy-dressed man, what is your name and occupation! ANSWER ME!” Zenko screamed.

“Ummm…” I stammered. “...MynameisJosukeSudatheUltimateCriminalInvestigatorokaybye!” I quickly hurried into a nearby room labeled  _ Cafeteria.  _ For some reason, it had no doors, but in the end Zenko lost sight of me. “Phew, I could have been pummeled in by that… thing.” I sighed.

But as I looked around the cafeteria, or whatever it was, I realized that the place we were in- was a lot nicer than I had imagined. Tables were lined up neatly with not a speck of dust or dirt in sight, the tiled floors were so clean I could swear I saw my own reflection, and overall despite being notoriously dirty in other places in the world, this cafeteria was very clean. 

_ Wait, Cafeteria… could that mean this place is- _

“Hey, you there!” My train of thought was derailed by a voice coming from the dining hall. I flinched, hoping it wasn’t Zenko, but as I tried to find the source of the voice, I saw a little girl, wearing bright pink hair in two buns, wearing a shirt with a print of pencil and paper. She was the second shortest person I saw today, other than Eho. Three other people, who were sitting at a nearby table, looked over to me. One was a girl with a long, brown ponytail wearing a very formal dress suit, one was a green-haired guy wearing a black fedora with a green parrot on his shoulder, and the other one was a girl wearing a large hoodie with a Zboz symbol on it. 

“Hey, you! What’s the matter, are you deaf or somethin’?” I looked at the pink-haired girl once more and she had this look of contempt written all over her face. “Oh, shut up, bitch. I was kidnapped today, I’m not in a good mood.”

Her face suddenly fell flat as I said, before turning into a look of anger. “What did you call me? Asshole, I better-”

“Woah, woah, ok.” I started apologizing, albeit sarcastically. “Sorry, sorry. Anyways, I’m Josuke Suda, Ultimate Criminal Investigator. What about you four?”

“I should go first, as we seem to be getting acquainted already.” The girl laughed, before introducing herself. “I am Mei Matsuo, the Ultimate Mangaka!”

_ Wow, someone even more boastful than Tadakuni or Shoken… I’m almost impressed. _

“Mei Matsuo?” The green haired guy responded. “That name sounds familiar… could you be the writer and artist for  _ Crystal Society? _ ”

“That’s me!” Mei responded, her voice filled with pride. Suddenly, the parrot on the guy’s shoulder starts speaking. “Society! Society!”

“Calm down, Beaks.” The man responded, before turning to me and Mei. “I do not believe we have had a chance to introduce ourselves, yes? I am Genjo Akiyama, the Ultimate Parrot Master. This is my pride and joy, Beaks. Say hello, Beaks.” The parrot cocked its head up and chirped “Hello! Hello everyone!”

“I should introduce myself as well,” the girl with the ponytail came in. “I’m Monaca Seo, the Ultimate Hacker. And before you ask, no, it’s almost never like the movies portray hacking, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Hacker?” Mei responded. “What, are you part of Anonymous or something? What are some top-secret files from Belgium you got?”

“I- no, I’m not from Anon-”

“Oh, please continue.” I asked. “Do you have any top secrets you’d like to share?”

“Never mind that-” Genjo interrupted us, turning to the girl with the hoodie. “- but I’m not sure we ever got your name and talent… would you mind sharing it with us?”

The girl looked at us, and began writing something down on a piece of paper. After what felt like an eternity, she handed the paper over to Monaca. She began to read it aloud. “Let’s see… you are  _ Kioshi Wakamura, the Ultimate Game Designer,  _ and the reason you don’t talk is that…  _ you just don’t like talking?” _

Before we could inquire about Kioshi’s lack of vocal communication, a chime started playing from the speakers. We looked up at the monitor as static started rolling across the screen, wondering what was about to happen.

Eventually, a voice emanated from the monitor. The voice felt neither horrifying nor exciting, nor depressing or uplifting, nor masculine or feminine. It was simply just a voice, but yet there was a sinister feel to it all as it spoke.

“Ahem, ahem. Are we all here? Everyone has gotten a good look of Ikiruyume’s inner workings? Well, whether or not you have, I welcome you all to this academy! Now, without further ado, everyone, please make your way to the main hall where we will get started! I’ll be waiting!”

There was a tense mood in the atmosphere as the voice rang. Everyone I could see was either whispering among others or themselves. I tried to communicate with some of the others I found tolerable, but they just made their way to the main hall. Everyone eventually arrived at the doors of the main hall, and we once again, began whispering to myself.  _ What’s going on? Is this really Ikiruyume Academy? Is this connected to the kidnappings, or is it just Ikiruyume’s way of doing things?  _ My questions would soon be answered, as the doors to the hall began to open.

And what waited on the other side… was a TV screen, with a clipart of a black and white ghost on it. It looked at us, with cold, dead eyes, and then spoke words that I would never expect to hear from it.

“Good morning, everyone! I am Monogousto, the headmaster of Ikiruyume Academy!”

  
  
  



	4. Enter Monogousto!

_ I know that Ikiruyume Academy isn’t like a lot of schools. I know that it does things very differently from others, even among the most elite. I know that, to outsiders, some of its methods seem… unorthodox. Absurd. Odd. However, in the end they serve a purpose. They do something. And they actually do make some amount of sense. _

_ But what the actual fuck. _

“Hello, boys and girls! I am the headmaster of Ikiruyume Academy, Monogousto!” The thing sputtered out. Everyone in the room was confused, bewildered at the sight we were seeing in front of us, myself included. All the people in the room were stunned, wondering what the hell was going on. Suddenly, a familiar voice started yelling at the headmaster.

“OI THERE! What the absolute hell is this?” It was Zenko, and I immediately flinched. “You kidnapped us to… whatever this is, and you’re saying you’re the headmaster? ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

“Hey hey, there’s no need to yell!” Monogousto chuckled. “After all, you might want to save that for later…”

I tried to inquire about that statement, but he continued. “Anyways, save your questions for after this, as I will now explain what is going on, so please, calm down and listen, ok?”

“As I have stated, welcome to Ikiruyume Academy! Yes, this is the famous school you’ve been waiting a long time to apply. For many years, we have strived to curate the best of the best, the most excellent of the bunch, the cream of the crop, and manifested their hopes, their talents, to better improve our society as a whole! Our academic institution will always…” The clipart just kept on talking and talking, and frankly, I’d rather not listen to the details. It was mostly just Monogousto kissing his own ass, constantly praising the school for things it definitely did not do, and downplayed what it did do. However, my curiosity was piqued as Monogousto switched the topic.

“However, despite the school’s best intentions, and despite everything the school has done in the past, there will be a massive curriculum change effective… immediately. I personally believe that the school, as it stands currently, is not fit for our modern world. Also, critics of this school are becoming more and more prominent, so unless we did something, we would not have an Ikiruyume Academy in the future!”

“Is that why we were kidnapped?” Chimaki said out loud, interrupting Monogousto. “Because that’s part of the new plan for the school?”

“Hey, no interruptions!” Monogousto scolded, with an angry look… er, sprite, on the screen. “But to answer your question, correct! We take you in ourselves, as per the new program! But you guys don’t really care about tha-”

“-So it’s you.” I said to him.

“Hmm? What is ‘it’?” Monogousto said. “Please, go on.”

“You’re the one behind the kidnappings. Of course, I figured it out as soon as I came here, but now I know specifically who’s behind it. You.”

“Kidnappings?” Monogousto questioned, before bursting into laughter. “Hahahaha, what? Oh, those! Yeah, as of now, I have no connection to those kidnappings! Totally separate thing!”

I grumbled.  _ He’s definitely lying, but it’s gonna take way too much to get it out of him. But for now, I should wait. _

“As I was saying…” Monogousto continued. “The new curriculum has four new pillars: transport to school, rules and regulations, length of time spent at Ikiruyume, and most importantly, content. I’ve already explained the transport pillar, have I not? So let’s get into the other three, starting with the length of your stay here! Originally, the amount of time you spent here was roughly four years, give or take depending on whether you dropped out early, failed a grade, requested extra years, etc. But to drive home our new school values, the new date of graduation is: nonexistent!”

“N-Nonexistent?” Mei stuttered. “What does… that mean?”

“It means that you’ll be spending the rest of your lives here at Ikiruyume! Isn’t that nice- spending the last remaining years of your days in the place you always dreamed of attending! How amazing is that?”

_ What… the hell? _

“What do you mean ‘rest of our lives!’, shithead?” Jackson growled. “Because I ain’t spending the rest of my goddamn life here!”

“If you think that we will spend the rest of our lives in place like this, even if it is one we adore,” Genjo stated, “then you are very mistaken.”

“You’re fucking insane…” Shoken whispered under her breath.

“I’m not sure you have noticed, but I have barred all the entrances and exits! No one can escape here… aside from an exception of course. That is where the ‘content’ part of the pillar comes from, as I will explain.”

“I’m interested.” Heizo casually spoke. “Please, do go on.”

“Now, I’ve done a lot of rambling so far, so I do believe I should introduce the graduation rule! To leave this school, all you simply need to do is commit murder!”

_ … _

What was a bunch of high-schoolers yelling at Monogousto about being kidnapped suddenly turned into a room so quiet you could hear the air molecules in the room moving.

_ What the fuck… did he… just… say that in order to leave… _

“Looks like you guys don’t believe me.” Monogousto said. “I’ll say it again so it can be drived into your little heads.  **In order to leave, you must kill someone and get away with it at the class trial!** ”

“Class… trial?” Tetsu stuttered.

“I think I understand.” Heizo added. “What I think he means by class trial is that if someone dies, then we all have to go to this ‘class trial’ and find the culprit, correct?”

“Ding ding ding!” Monogousto cheered. “You’re a smart one, Heizo, I’ll tell you that. Anyways, after an investigation period, you will go to the class trial and debate on clues, evidence, alibis, all that jazz, and figure out who the culprit is! The end of the class trial will have a popular vote, and if the most votes go to the culprit, then the culprit gets punished. However, if you choose poorly, then everyone besides the culprit gets punished, and the culprit gets to go free!”

“I’m almost afraid to ask at this point…” Genjo added. “But what is… punishment?”

“Well, obviously,” Monogousto continued. “It’s execution!”

The silence that followed when we heard about the murder rule had returned, but after just a few seconds, everyone broke into uproar.

“Hey, you can’t do that! It’s… not good!”

“Ah! Please… someone get me out of here!”

“No fucking way in hell… you’re bullshitting me…”

“I am in fact… not BSing with you right now, Mr. Jackson!” Monogousto gleefully cheered. “But yes, execution is punishment. So if you’re gonna murder someone, do it in a way you can’t get caught!” Breezing off the constant screams of the class, Monogousto casually moved on.

“Anyways, before we depart for today, I have one last thing to give you!” In a corner, what seemed to be a small, cube-shaped robot with tiny arms and legs with a picture of Monogousto on them appeared. “This is a Monobot. Because my existence is purely of 0s and 1s, whenever I need something done in the real world, these guys do it all for me!”

The Monobot opened itself up to reveal around 16 tiny, tablet-like devices. They were handed out to us one-by-one and as I turned it on, it displayed five icons.  _ Let’s see, Rules, Report Cards, Camera, ID, balance & purchase history… huh. This thing is very sophisticated.  _

“These are student handbooks!” Mongousto declared. “I suggest you read over those rules and regulations!” Monogousto chuckled. “It would be a shame if you got punished for breaking a rule…”

I tapped the regulations button, and on screen appeared a list of rules:

  1. There is no end date for the Ikiruyume Killing Semester. Please enjoy your stay.
  2. Destruction of any school equipment, such as security cameras, monitors, or Monobots is strictly prohibited. While this rule does not apply if you are planning murder, under no circumstances are you to interfere with Monogousto’s security.
  3. Loaning or borrowing someone a handbook is strictly prohibited.
  4. With minimal restrictions, you are allowed to explore Ikiruyume as you wish.
  5. Going into the bathroom opposite of the sex listed on your handbook is strictly prohibited.
  6. When three people discover a body for the first time, an announcement plays over the speakers announcing that the investigation period has begun. These periods last from an hour to 6 hours, depending on the complexity of the murder.
  7. Monogousto may never commit or interfere with a murder, unless it is breaking school regulations.
  8. As such, Monogousto may never lie, but is allowed to not answer a question.
  9. After the investigation period is over, the class trial begins where students discuss the identity of the killer.
  10. After that, it is decided by popular vote. If it is correct, the killer receives punishment. If not, everyone but the killer receives punishment.
  11. Not voting/refusing to vote will get you punished, regardless of the vote’s outcome.
  12. The game ends when the headmaster deems the killing game cannot continue.
  13. Additional regulations may be added, removed, or changed as needed.



I looked at the regulations again, and again.  _ Looks like escape will be harder than I thought.  _ Everyone around me was panicking, afraid of what would happen.

“Anyways,” Monogousto said. “Those are the school’s rules and regulations! Make sure you follow them to a T! Well, my time is short here, so I must depart now! Thank you all for listening, and enjoy your stay here at Ikiruyu-”

“Just a minute.” A voice grumbled out from the crowd.

“Oh?” Monogousto said. “What is it, Mr. Tadakuni?”

Tadakuni walked out from the sea of Ultimates and to the monitor Monogousto was placed on. There was a look of sheer anger in his eyes as he approached the monitor. All of a sudden, he grabbed the sides of the monitor with both his hands and started talking angrily toward the headmaster.

“Why. Why… are you doing this? Why are you making us play this dumb game?”

“Now, I cannot tell a lie,” Monogousto replied. “However, I am allowed to stay silent. You don’t need to be worried about the ‘why’, just focus on the ‘how’ and kill someone if you want to leave so bad!”

“I can’t.” Takakuni slowly whispered, letting go of the monitor. “I can’t ever kill another human. My old man… told me to never hurt a good person. He was the same guy that told me to never come to Ikiruyume because of ‘something bad’ or whatever. You should have been there, when the letter came in, he actively hid it from me. Didn’t hide it for long, though.”

“Your point, Mr. Tadakuni?” Monogousto yawned.

“The point is, I’m not going to kill one of these people. I would never end them because I wanted to escape. So instead…”

“...I’ll end you, you heartless machine!”

It looked like Monogousto was about to reply, but before he could say a word. Tadakuni began punching the monitor, breaking it piece by piece. Sounds of glass shattering filled the room, along with Tadakuni’s cries of anger and Monogousto begging to not be punched. Eventually, the monitor was nothing more than a pile of shards, and Tadakuni just stood there, heavily breathing, looking at the pile of monitor.

“It’s done… it’s over. We can go home now. I… destroyed him.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Mr. Tadakuni.” Monogousto’s voice rang out through the room, as we looked in every direction trying to find the source.

“Unfortunately, I cannot appear in my form thanks to your mindless destruction, but don’t worry, I’ll get it repaired. And besides, I have many monitors at my disposal anyway!”

“However, Mr. Tadakuni. This is a direct violation of Rule #2. I’m assuming you read the regulations, yes? Destruction of school property is not allowed!”

At first, only I noticed it descending. But eventually, the other students, with the exception of Tadakuni, noticed the terrible thing descending from the ceiling.

“As such, I will have to administer punishment. Goodbye, Mr. Tadakuni.” It was then Tadakuni finally noticed the thing pointing directly at him.  _ A machine gun. _

It was then I uttered words that I hoped would prevent the oncoming disaster. “Tadakuni!” I screamed. “Watch out!”

But it was too late. Within moments, the machine gun started firing upon the carpenter. A bright light filled the room, alongside the screams of many people, especially Tadakuni. While it only lasted mere seconds, it felt like an eternity. And when that machine gun stopped firing, and we were able to see the sight in front of us, Monogousto’s voice rang out.

“Let this be an example of how you cannot mess with me! Violate a rule, or get on my bad side, and this is what happens!” 

The example Monogousto was referring to was Tadakuni Ohashi, the Ultimate Carpenter, collapsed on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of the prologue! Thank you all for sticking around for it, and I'll see you in Part 1!


	5. The Intelligent, Cynical Man Speaks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, we enter into Part 1! Stick with us, this is gonna be a wild ride...
> 
> Also, we are doing FTEs next chapter! Two timeslots are available, and there is a poll at the bottom to vote! (Though I suggest you read this chapter first) Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

_ I can’t believe it. _

_ I’ve seen many dead bodies in my lifetime. Some of them more… brutal than others. Thankfully, for the most part, the dead bodies I inspected were not of people I knew, at least, not very well. So why… _

_...is this so shocking to me? Why do I feel… bad? It’s not like I liked Tadakuni anyway. He was annoying, self-centered, and arrogant. Plus, it almost felt like his talent was his only personality trait.  _

_ So why do I almost feel… sorry for him? _

Tadakuni’s corpse laid in front of us as we tried to comprehend what just happened. One second, he was destroying Monogousto, in a moment of pure rage. The next, he was the unfortunate target of a machine gun.

We were stunned at the very sight of the event. Everyone was clutching their mouths and hearts, trying not to faint due to the unpleasant sight before us. It wasn’t until we heard a familiar scream that we were able to (somewhat) return back to reality.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Zenko cried. “Why did- Why did you- Why did you kill him?”

“It’s terrible…” Tetsu cried. “You’re… terrible, you monster!” 

“Why?” Monaca questioned. “Why?”

“It’s because he broke the rules.” Heizo’s voice echoed out among the crowd of Ultimates.

_ Huh? _

“You heard the ghost.” he continued. “Break a rule, and you get punished. And don’t come to the defense that ‘he didn’t know’. I saw him going over the rules in the notepad… when he destroyed the monitor, he knew exactly what he was doing. In the end, it was his fault that he happened to die like this. What a moron.”

“How can you say that?” Ruka said. “Why… are you going on something like that at a time like this?”

“Because people die.” Heizo sternly spoke. “Without death, there is no life. Death is natural, and I laugh at those who think they can avoid it. Why even live if there is nothing waiting for me at the end? Because so we can live our lives filled with meaning and happiness.”

“Lunatic.” Taro quietly whispered, but loud enough so everyone could slightly hear it.

“Me? A lunatic?” Heizo commented. “That’s loaded coming from a Taro.”

Taro suddenly had a look of anger upon his face, and it looked like he was about to say something before Heizo interrupted him. “Well, I’m gonna go look around some more. And you guys… I don’t know, deal with Tadakuni’s body or something.” Heizo wondered out of the main hall, leaving us behind.

“Hey Taro…” I asked. “What was that all about?” Taro had a look of contemptment on his face, before wondering out of the main hall, following Heizo.

“Well…” Chimaki pondered… “how are we gonna deal with Tadakuni’s body?”

“I’ll try to do something.” Eho said, walking up to Tadakuni’s lifeless corpse. Grabbing his body, Eho suddenly had a look of disturbance and surprise on her face.

“Huh?” Eho whispered, before inspecting the body once more. After doing this for some time, she just stared at Tadakuni.

“How… it’s not possible…”

“What is it, Eho?” Kaiya asked.

“Tadakuni’s… he’s… he’s…”

“Just spit it out, we don’t have all day.” Shoken rudely interrupted.

“Tadakuni’s still alive.”

_ … _

_ … _

_ What? _

_ Did Eho say he was… alive? _

_ No, impossible. We watched him get killed by Monogousto.  _

Everyone immediately began crowding around Eho and Tadakuni’s body, as Eho further explained what was going on. “He’s breathing, and he has a pulse. I… think we might be able to save him. I have training, don’t worry…”

_ Tadakuni’s… alive? _

Several screams started erupting from the mob of teenagers. Some of them were happy about the possibility of Tadakuni surviving, others (including myself) were denying it, as there was no way that even a man with lots of toned muscle (like Tadakuni) would survive that many bullets. 

  
  


“He’s alive?”

“But… that’s not possible!”

“How? Getting shot with that many bullets…”

“....wouldn’t kill you, if you aim carefully enough!”

The chatter amongst ourselves quickly screeched to a halt when we heard  _ his  _ voice again. Monogousto, descending from a nearby monitor, ranting. “Obviously I wouldn’t kill him immediately, what good headmaster wouldn’t warn his students of the possible consequences without actually doing any damage? I meant to only fire away from Tadakuni’s body, but I guess a few hit him. Oh well, as long as they didn’t hit anything vital, it’ll be fine.” Before we could say anything back, the monitor quickly retracted into the ceiling.

Eho starred at Tadakuni, before quickly turning to us. “We need to get him somewhere, now. I don’t think he’ll die, but at this rate, the damage might be permanent if we don’t do something. Someone help me carry him to his dorm room.” Genjo offered to help Eho with moving him, and the two of them went to take care of Tadakuni.

“So uhhh…” Tetsu said, “what do we do now?”

“I think we should all head to the dining hall,” Monaca answered. “Considering the… situation, we should all discuss what to do next there.” We all agreed, and immediately walked toward the dining hall. 

  
  
  


“So,” Monaca began, “first order of business, what do we know about this place?” Tetsu answered by saying “Well, if I were to guess, then this is the actual Ikiruyume Academy. I have an older brother who visited this place once as a guest, and I went along. It was only a couple years ago, but I can tell you, this is Ikiruyume Academy.”

“A tour?” Chimaki questioned. “I… don’t remember anything like that ever happening.” Tetsu, a bit less confidently, answered “They only disclosed it to people related to Ultimate Students. My brother was the Ultimate Video Editor.”

“A video editor?” Heizo asked. “That’s weird, I thought you were-”

“So I guess this is Ikiruyume, then.” Shoken concluded. “More importantly, how the  _ fuck _ did you know we were here, Heizo?”

“I saw the crowd of people going to the dining hall, and decided to follow.” Heizo continued. “Anyways, so you’re having a meeting? That’s weird, I thought you’d be at each other’s throats.” Jackson looked like he was about to say something, but he was interrupted by Heizo. “I know what you’re gonna say. Something along the lines of ‘killing is wrong, we would never do that.’ Well, I’m not gonna completely disagree with the first part, as for the second, we’ll see about that.” He then left the hall, leaving us in anger and confusion.

“Geez, is it his hobby to be needlessly cryptic?” Mei grunted. “He must think he’s in a novel that’s gonna win a nobel prize or something.”

“Oh, and one more thing.” Heizo said, re-entering the room. “I know that you want to think that no one will kill each other, but you’re wrong. If I were to guess, someone is already planning to kill someone. It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when.” He then once again left the room.

“Ugh, what the fuck is he on about?” Jackson grunted. 

“If we’re going to get out of here,” Kaiya began, “then we will have to cast aside any suspicions or thoughts of committing murder aside. I’m pretty sure most of you already know, but cooperation is essential at this point.”

“You’re so cool…” Mei whispered.

“Anyways,” Monaca pointed at the clock. “I think we should meet together in the morning- hopefully Genjo and Eho are able to tell us about Tadakuni’s situation by then.” I looked to the clock Monaca was pointing at.  _ 10:00PM? It’s already that late? _

“I think we should get some sleep, considering it’s essentially nighttime-”

“Did someone say nighttime?” Monogousto’s voice echoed throughout the dining hall. A monitor descended from the ceiling, and on it was the display of that evil clipart.

“Ah, silly me.” he continued. “I completely forgot! There was supposed to be a rule about nighttime in your rulebooks… let me just… there! Oh, someone’s going to get fired for this…erm, anyways! The new rule states that in between 10PM and 7PM is ‘nighttime’ and while no restrictions apply at the moment, there will be announcements at these times to indicate the start and end of nighttime! The first one should be… right now!”

As he said that, what we assumed to be a big band playing some sort of patriotic music. It was extremely loud, so much that some of us had to cover our ears. Suddenly, a voice emanated from the weird music. “The time is now 10PM, which is the start of nighttime! Sweet dreams, everyone!”

The music died down, and before we knew it, a couple people started heading toward their dorms. “I’m going to bed.” Chimaki said. “It’s been a long day, and I just want to get some sleep.”

“Me too.” Jackson grumbled. “I don’t exactly feel safe here, but I’m tired as balls. G’night, everyone.”

“In the morning,” Monaca said, on her way out, “we should meet up again and have breakfast together. There’s food in the kitchen and pantry, I don’t think we have to worry about eating here.”

There was a nod from Kioshi, who was also on her way out.

“Might as well join them.” I said, wondering to my dorm. I was tired, after waking up in this place, meeting a bunch of ultimates- some of them living up to my very low expectations, some of them better than what I thought, but still ultimates at the end of the day. I watched someone almost die and get carried back, and I watched a so-called philosopher rant about how death will befall someone here.

After I entered my room, I had almost no energy left. I crashed onto my bed with a large sigh.  _ I’ve never been this tired before, and I’ve worked on cases that have made me pull a lot of unhealthy all-nighters.  _

_ The killing game… no, my mind shouldn’t be focused on that right now. There’s a lot of things I need to do, but right now, escape from this place is my number one priority. Nothing else. Not finding out who’s behind this, not finding out if there’s a connection to the kidnappings, not finding out who killed my sister- _

The memories came flooding back. My sister,  _ dead on the kitchen floor  _ **_with a knife stuck in her che-_ **

_ No. I can’t be thinking of that. Not now. I’m sorry, Mikasa, but your revenge will have to wait. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FTE poll (Top two results by January 6th, 2021 will get events): https://strawpoll.com/kdzqya3gg <\--- Vote here!


	6. The Investigator's Theory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I regret to inform you that I have started school back up again, meaning that updates and releases will be a lot slower then they were before. I hope you are patient with me, as I will still continue to try my best to write this series. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

I woke up today to the sound of a blaring alarm clock. Trying to silence its noise, I lifted my hand and then repeatedly slammed it among the nightstand, hoping that it would eventually hit the alarm clock and silence it. But after around seven or so slams on the counter, I remembered,  _ I don’t have an alarm clock, so why do I hear… _

“Good morning everyone!” Monogousto’s voice called out. “It’s time for another beautiful day!”

_...shit. I’m still stuck here. _

Yawning, I stuck my head up from underneath the covers, trying to get into my normal routine.  _ Just pretend that a sadistic google clipart isn’t watching you get dressed, just pretend that a sadistic google clipart isn’t watching you get dressed, just pretend… _

After freshening up and getting dressed into new clothes, I headed to the dining hall to meet up with the others. On the way I met some of the others, who presumably were also heading to the dining hall.

“Ah, Josuke, good morning!” Ruka waltzed up to me with a bright grin on her face. Begrudgingly, I looked straight at her and said “How can you be so happy at a time like this?” Ruka looked at me and said “Well, it’s better than moping around like you are, so why not?”

Sighing, I entered the dining hall (did they forget to put the doors on this thing?) to find that most of the people here had arrived and were having breakfast.

“Mornin’ Josuke. Ruka.” Jackson called out to us, sitting next to Monaca, eating their food. 

“HELLO MY FRIENDS!” Zenko called out, whilst being restrained by Chimaki as he attempted to run over to us. 

“Hang on, there’s a few missing, isn’t there?” Ruka said, while we grabbed our food. 

“Taro said he wasn’t going to attend the meetings and work on his own.” Monaca said. “Eho is still tending to Tadakuni’s wounds, and I don’t know what Shoken and Heizo are doing.”

“Maybe they’re… y’know, getting extracurricular?” Mei said, with a smug look on her face. “I mean, with their detestable personalities, I’d think they’d fall for each other anytime. Or maybe Heizo accidentally fell on Shoken and grabbed her-”

“Finish that sentence,” Shoken grunted, walking into the dining hall as if on-queue, “and you won’t live to say another.”

“Calm down, you two.” Tetsu said, eating his food in the corner with Genjo and Beaks. “It’s not exactly the best place to be fighting. Shoken, why don’t you sit over here with Genjo and I?”

“I would appreciate the company,” Genjo speaks softly. “It would be nice to have a different conversation topic- all this guy talks about is something called  _ The Revengers. _ ”   
  


“Hey, the revengers are amazing!” Tetsu shouts. “You got Steelhuman, Admiral Canada, the Bulk, Zeus… they’re so cool! And I was lead cinematographer for the first two movies AND the TV spinoff!”

Shoken sighed, and begrudgingly made her way toward Tetsu and Genjo’s table with her food. Before she sat down, Monaca called out to her. “Did you see Heizo, Eho, or Tadakuni on the way here?”

Shoken replied with a sigh. “I don’t know where the fuck Eho or Tadakuni are, and when I told Heizo about the meetings, he just laughed manically and ran off.”

“Why do you even care about him?” Jackson sighed. “Guy’s a fuckin’ maniac- tellin’ everyone about all that crap, if it wasn’t for his talent, I would have assumed that his brain just so happened to drop out of his head when he was pushed out by Mrs. Kudo.”

“Grotesque descriptions aside…” Monaca sighed. “I think we should start planning what to do. It seems like not all of us have explored the entire school, so what do we have?”

“The school, or at least, the first floor seems to be divided into two sections.” Kaiya began.” Each section has a large room, with multiple smaller rooms being accessible from said large rooms. The dorm hall seems to run alongside the two rooms, with two large doors in the hall which connects the large rooms, as well as a gateway in between the rooms themselves.”

“The first one is mainly empty, with a few trophy cases here and there. It also has doors to the dining hall, as well as two classrooms, which seem to be empty. The second one has a large statue of some unknown person, with weird crevasses within the statue itself. That room also has doors to the warehouse and school store, the bathrooms, the main hall, as well as a blocked off stairway leading up to what I think to be a second floor.”

“Wow! You’re so smart, Kaiya!” Mei exclaimed, who was sitting next to her. Kaiya blushed and said “Well thank you, but I am only simply reciting the information that we know. It’s not that impressive…”

“Anyways,” I interrupted. “Do we know anything about escaping here? Did we find any escape routes or anything?”

Kioshi, who was sitting by herself in a corner, shook her head. Everyone else seemed to be in agreement.

“Huh, I guess we are gonna be here a while.” Tetsu sighed. “Bummer…”

“ALRIGHT THEN!” Zenko screamed at the top of his lungs. “Let’s finish up eating and begin investigating every inch of this place! NO INCH LEFT BEHIND!”

“Let’s do that after breakfast.” Monaca said to everyone, finishing the last crumbs on her plate. “Okay everyone, let’s split up and search this place for clues!”

After finishing up my breakfast I headed right where I knew there was going to be something of value;  _ the warehouse. _ Opening the door, I saw Kaiya rummaging through one of the shelves. I decided to join her, and she just acknowledged me with a nod.  _ Must be really looking for anything useful, huh… _

“Surprised to find you alone.” I commented. “Wonder why Mei’s not with you, considering how much she seems to like you.” Kaiya stopped her investigation for a brief second, before replying “Mei is actually on the other side of the warehouse.” she said. “We agreed to investigate together on opposite ends, before meeting in the middle and discussing our findings.”

“I see…” I hummed. “It almost seems like you’re trying to avoid her.” Kaiya flinched, before looking me dead in the eye. “I am not trying to avoid her.” she sternly replied. “We agreed that this was the best option to investigate this large warehouse. What are you even trying to say?”

“Oh nothing.” I smuggly replied. After a weird look from Kaiya, we resumed our investigation. After what felt like forever, I asked her “I’ve been wondering, how did you become the Ultimate Astrophysicist? It must not be easy.”

Kaiya stopped her investigation once again and paused. “It’s… a long story.” she whispered. “But basically, the reason I got into astrophysics and astronomy was because of… a friend.”

“A friend?” I questioned. “Were they really into space or something?”

“Yeah. I spent a lot of time with them at my orphanage.”

“Ah, a fellow orphan, I see.” I replied nonchalantly. Kaiya looked up at me and said “I thought you’d be more shocked when I told you I was an orphan.”

“Don’t worry.” I said to her. “I am too. My mom died giving birth to me, and my dad overdosed on drugs. At least, according to my sister.”

“That’s horrible…” Kaiya said, despite looking unaffected. “What orphanage did you go to?”

“Never went to one.” I stated. “Lived on the streets with my sister for most of my life… it’s actually how I became a criminal investigator. I only did it because my sister suggested I start learning and hope that the awful things you see would stop… and here I am.”

“It’s a good thing you have a sibling to rely on.” Kaiya said. “While I did have a close friend, I was an only child. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a sibling.”

“They’re not exactly great. You sometimes wish they’d just… disappear, but in the end, you still love them, no matter what happens to them, or you.” I said, trying not to cry.

“You must miss her very much.” Kaiya added. “Are you looking forward to seeing her again once we escape?”

“She’s dead, Kaiya.” I said out loud. “She was murdered… and I still don’t know who killed her.” Images of Mikasa’s corpse  _ kept flashing in my  _ **_mind, with all the blood and-_ **

“Are you okay, Jouske?” Kaiya nervously responded.

I quickly replied, “It’s the Suda family curse. Everyone in my family dies horribly before the age of 30.”

“Well,” Kaiya muttered. “I hope you do find who killed her.”

“I would say to you that you must look forward to seeing your friend again,” I continued, “but by the way you’re talking about them, they’re also dead, aren’t they?”

Kaiya slowly nodded her head. “Cancer.” she muttered.

“Setsuko was so full of energy…” Kaiya began ranting. “It almost seemed like nothing could stop her. She had one dream, and that’s to know everything about the universe. Ever since she died, she entrusted me with the dream that I would fulfill her wish for her. That’s why I can’t die here… I’ll fail Setsuko’s wish…” Kaiya, who was often stoic and unemotional, looked like she was on the brink of tears. That was, until Mei came along.

“I’m back, Kaiya!” she yelled. “You see, I couldn’t find anything from my end- oh hey Josuke!” The short, pink-haired girl stared at us, until she started screaming at me. “What are you doing! You better not take my precious Kaiya away from me with your filthy little hands!” Surprised at the sudden reaction from Mei, I ran out of the warehouse to avoid my untimely death.

Panting, I headed back to my dormitory to rest for a bit. For some reason, it felt like I got a bit closer to Kaiya today.

Where to next?

I looked up at the clock in my room.  _ 12:03, huh? Might as well get something to eat.  _ Heading to the dining hall, I wondered what I would have for lunch.  _ Maybe something savoury, or something salty… well, I guess I’ll see what’s in the kitchen. _

When I peaked in the dining hall, I saw Monaca, eating an apple at one of the tables. She seemed stressed and tired, most likely because of our current situation. She suddenly looked up at me, and immediately smiled. “Hey Josuke! You here to get something to eat, too?” I nodded, and looked through the pantry in the hall. Eventually, I decided to have a salad.  _ Let’s see,  _ I thought to myself, rummaging through the produce.  _ Let’s get some lettuce, some tomatoes, an onion, maybe even a carrot.  _ After grabbing all the stuff I needed to make the salad, I suddenly realized something.

_ I don’t know how to cook. Hell, I don’t even know how to cut these all up. _

“Having trouble?” I heard Monaca’s voice from the entrance of the kitchen. Startled, the knife I was holding fell to the ground, making a  _ clang  _ noise as I did it. 

“Those are some nice salad ingredients you got there.” Monaca teased. “Do you need help cutting them up?”

“No.” I said, sternly. “I don’t need your help.” I began cutting up the veggies one by one, and placed my wonderful creation into a bowl I found and decided to drizzle in some olive oil.  _ Hey, chef Bordon Zamsey puts olive oil in his salad, why shouldn’t I? _

Bringing my glorious masterpiece to the dining hall, I ate lunch with Monaca. As for my salad… well… it was something, alright.  _ Dammit, I knew I put way too much olive oil in there.  _

“Wow,” Monaca said, staring at my bowl. “Next time, you might want to-”

“Put less olive oil in?”

“That, and you might want to actually learn how to chop up veggies and choose which ones to you. How could you even eat this, there’s no bell pepper!”

“There’s a simple reason for that.” I remarked. “I hate bell pepper.”

“You’re missing out, Josuke, they are amazing in salads.” Monaca said, poking a fork into my salad, trying some for herself. As she put the bit of lettuce in her mouth, her face contorted into a mixture of surprise and disgust. 

“Phew, that’s disgusting, Josuke!” Monaca scolded. “How the hell are you going to impress girls with cooking skills that atrocious? It’s a salad!”

“Maybe it’s because I’m not looking for a relationship?” I retorted. “Being in a relationship, holding hands, cuddling, kissing, having se-” I caught myself, before calming myself down. “It’s simply not the life I want.”

I (somehow) managed to finish my salad in silence. But when I looked over at Monaca, she seemed to have finished her apple, but she looked sad, almost depressed.

“Monaca?” I asked, “You okay?”

Monaca seemed to snap out of whatever she was in, and immediately faced me. “What is it?”

“Are… you okay?”

Monaca looked surprised by that question. After a few brief moments, she looked down with a sad smile on her face and said “I just miss them, that’s all.”

“Miss who?”

“The Programmers Club I run at a local high school.”

Out of all the things to be sad about,  _ that’s what she chooses?  _ “The- programmer’s club? Why?”

“It’s just-” Monaca’s smile seemed to start fading from her face. “They’re essentially why I continue to program and hack. Sure, I have a lot of jobs from the government that require my skills, and I’ve met some amazing people thanks to my talent over the years, but- despite being much younger then me, I- I don’t know. They’re the people I want to see the most when I get out of here.”

“The club?” I asked, confused, “I mean, we’re going to get out of here. You’re going to see them again.”

“I know.” Monaca seemed to calm down. “Thanks for your reassurance.” I nodded and parted ways with her, but as despite feeling a bit closer to Monaca, I knew something, down in my heart. 

_ Heizo’s right.  _ I thought.  _ The chances of all of us getting out of here are extremely slim. Someone’s going to die, whether we like it or not. That reassurance I gave Monaca… I only hope that I was right.  _

Some time passed in my dorm, and I looked at the clock.  _ 7:28 PM,  _ it read.  _ Almost time for our evening meeting. _

Heading to the dining hall, I saw a few people also heading there. Eventually, we reached the dining hall, and began our conversation.

“First order of business... “ Monaca began. “Did anyone find anything useful to our escape, or anything weird about this place?”

Zenko’s hand shot up like a bolt of lighting. “RUKA, TETSU AND I INVESTIGATED THE DORMS, AND WE FOUND SOMETHING! IT’S REALLY WEIRD, SO-”

“What Zenko is trying to say,” Ruka cut him off, “is that some of the dorm rooms are soundproofed. But… not all of them, for some reason.”

“Yeah!” Tetsu continued. “We tested my dorm to see if it was soundproof, and it wasn’t! But for some reason, the tests we did also told us that Ruka and Zenko’s dorms are soundproof too!”

“So, for some dumb reason.” Jackson said. “Not all the rooms are soundproofed? But some are?”

“Exactly!” Zenko exclaimed. “But it does not matter- I can hear through soundproof walls anyway! My hearing is excellent, and can detect even the quietest of sounds!”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘not all rooms are soundproofed’?” A familiar voice echoed throughout the room. “I made sure to proof every single dorm room, so why…”

As we looked around, a monitor appeared from the ceiling, with Monogousto’s insufferable little face on it. “Well, while it was a flaw in the school’s design, in the end, it should make for some interesting murders…” The monitor, as quickly as it descended, rose back up into the ceiling. 

“I hate that thing.” Tetsu groaned. 

“Ditto.” Mei replied.

“Well, did anyone else find anything of note?” Everyone shook their heads, with groans and mumbles coming from the crowd.

“Really guys?” Ruka complained. “Nothing? Na-da? Null? I get it’s the first full day here, but still!”

“Calm down, Ruka.” Chimaki put her hand on her shoulder. Ruka seemed to calm down. “Thanks for that. Hopefully we should find something soon.”

We all began plans out of here depending on what we already knew- most of which I didn’t care about, until someone called out my name. It was Kaiya.

“Hey Josuke,” Kaiya said to me. “Back during the confrontation with Monogousto… you said something about ‘kidnappings’, what were you referring to?”

I took a deep breath.  _ Almost no information about this was allowed to be shared with the general public… although if it’s what I think it is, I should tell them… _

“Basically…” I began. “Over the course of almost 3 months, around 60 people suddenly vanished. They were random, with no rhyme or reason or even motive. Evidence I collected suggested that they were kidnapped, and most likely from the same person or organization as well. Unfortunately, we’ve hit a lot of dead ends, but if this is what I think it is…” I paused, everyone looking at me. “Those kidnappings, although Mongousto is denying it… there is no way that those kidnappings and this killing game are not connected.”

Most of the people around me gasped, while others just pondered in silence. “So these people are also chosen for killing games?” Genjo asked me. “If your theory is correct, that is, then I would assume that other killing games are taking place, and that this one just so happens to host ultimate students.” Beaks then squawked “Killing games! Ultimate!”

“That’s what he was saying, Genjo.” Kaiya replied, with Mei staring wide-eyed at her. “You’re amazing, Kaiya... “

Kaiya blushed. “I was simply informing Genjo.” she said. “That is all.”

“You two seem to be getting along well.” Jackson commented, with a smirk on his face. “So Josuke, do you have any more info on those kidnappings?”

“Sadly, no.” I said. “I was going to investigate it more, but… I already had a case going, one that is still very important to me.”

“What the hell?” Mei questioned. “A bunch of similar kidnappings and one case is more important? Why the hell is it-”

“My sister was murdered.”

The dining hall fell silent, with only a few concerned and surprised glances plastered on the faces of my fellow Ultimates. “And to this day… I still don’t know who killed her. The only clue I had that linked to her death… was Ikiruyume Academy. Somehow, this school is linked to her murder… and mark my words, I will find the killer.” I didn’t even know it, but my face had turned into a look of pure anger, which visibly gave concerned looks on all the students.

“You should… probably get some rest.” Chimaki commented. Realising that she was probably right, I headed to my dorm to sleep.

_ What a day it has been…  _ I thought to myself.  _ And more importantly… This is the first time I’ve been able to talk about my sister’s death without any of those horrible flashbacks. It’s almost like I… forgot her or something. _

_ Heh, maybe there is hope after all. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! As some of you might now, while Kaiya and Monaca won the FTE vote, Genjo and Ruka came in very close second, so for the next chapter I will include FTE events for them too!


	7. Arrival from the Grave

“Good morning everyone!” Monogousto’s voice blared out from the speakers, alongside annoying alarm sounds. “It’s time for another beautiful day!”

I slowly got up and did the same routine as yesterday. Quick wash, change clothes, and head to the morning meeting. Although I did have to spend some extra time freshening myself up- let me say right now that that salad did  _ not  _ go down well. Regardless, I went to open the door until I heard a very annoying voice behind me call out to me. “Hello, Mr. Josuke.” Monogousto’s voice rang out to me. “Before you go to your morning meal, I suggest you stay here a bit and listen! You don’t have to, of course, but you’ll be punished if you don’t…”

Not wanting to become swiss cheese, I turned around to see the monitor with Monogousto’s face splattered on it. “There we go. There’s something I need to talk to you about.” Annoyingly, I said to him. “What the hell do you want? Just tell me what you need to tell me, and then get out of my sight.”

“That’s no way to speak to your headmaster!” he roared. “Although I suppose it can’t be helped. This new curriculum must be stressful for you, but don’t worry, in weeks time, you’ll get used to it!”

“What do you want.” I said to him, sternly. “I’m not going to waste my time, so hurry up.”

“Alright, fine, fine!” Monogousto surrendered. “Oh, Monobots!” Just as he said that, a Monobot appeared seemingly out of nowhere, carrying what seemed to be a coin. I picked it up to inspect them, and they all had little pictures of Monogousto on them.  _ I’ve lived constantly scrounging for money to live…  _ I thought to myself.  _ But I have never wanted to destroy money this badly before. _

“What do you think of my Goustocoins?” Monogousto spoke. “You can find these all around the school, and they can be used to buy items at the school store. Of course, as soon as you find one, I’ll snatch it from you and add it to your notebook for quick and easy buying!”

“That’s it?” I said, handing the coin back to the monobot. “I’m assuming there’s some other use other than the school store? I didn’t see anything useful in there…”

“Well, who knows?” Monogousto replied. “I will eventually add more stuff to the store, and maybe there’ll be a use in the future! Well, that’s all I have to say, enjoy your breakfast!”

Annoyed, I went onto my handbook and checked the  _ balance  _ option. The screen blared up and said ‘Your current total is 1 goustocoin(s). View purchase history?’ Turning it off, I headed toward the dining hall to meet up with the others.

And when I walked in, I saw…  _ something that I did not expect in the slightest. _

Heizo was sitting on one of the dining hall chairs, with a smug look on his face. He was drinking what seemed to be coffee, while talking to someone else. And that person was…

_ Tadakuni, standing directly in front of Heizo, with an angry look on his face, and a wooden cane in his right hand. _

“What did you say, you son of a bitch?” Tadakuni spat at Heizo.

“Oh come on, you heard what I said.” Heizo replied back. “Though, did your ears get broken as well as your leg?”

“You better not be serious, you bastard.” Tadakuni grumbled. “If you are…”

“You’ll kill me, right?” Heizo spat back. “You’ll just be playing into Monogousto’s hands. Now wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Sh-shut up!” Tadakuni roared. “Why… did you tell me that? You’re gonna die if anyone else knows…”

“I’m surprised that you haven’t tried to kill me yet.” Heizo sneered. “Perhaps it’s because you’re now a cripple, huh?” Heizo continued. “However, I suggest you keep it between you and me- of course Josuke can join in too, if he was listening for this whole conversation.”

Without saying a word, Heizo left the dining hall, with his eyes pointed at me. When he walked by me, he whispered to me “I’d watch your back if I were you, Mr. Criminal Investigator.” And without saying anything else, he left the room entirely.

Tadakuni had a dark look on his face. It felt as if, any moment, he would go full beserk and murder someone. Carefully, I walked in the dining hall and as I approached, I noticed something.

_ Tadakuni, you’re… struggling to even stand. I can tell that that cane of yours isn’t doing a lot. _

“Are you okay, Tadakuni?” I asked him. He looked down at me, and simply said; “I’ll tell you later, now isn’t the best time.”

As he said that, some of the Ultimate Students started pouring in, with bewildered looks as they spotted Tadakuni, who was now sitting in a chair. Suddenly, Eho dashed into the hall with an extremely worried look on her face, before changing into a look of relief. “There you are, Tadakuni!” she hollered. “What are you doing out of your room?”

“I’m sorry, Eho.” Tadakuni said. “But I can’t just sit around all day and wait for my leg to fully heal. Especially in a place like this… I need to be on my guard at all times.”

Eho looked down, before sighing. “Alright, then.” She smiled. “How about we listen to what went on the last day and a half?”

Tadakuni nodded, and we explained everything that’s happened so far. Our ideas on the current situation, Heizo and Taro not showing up, even the Goustocoins we received this morning.

“I see, then.” Tadakuni said. “I got those too once I was back on my feet, but surely they’re not just for the school store, right?”

“We don’t know.” I said. “I personally don’t see a use in them so far, but who knows what might happen. Might be a good idea to keep them for later.”

“I agree.” Ruka nodded. “Maybe if we get enough of ‘em, we could buy a way out!”

We then all decided to have breakfast. I was going to go and talk to Tadakuni about what had happened with Heizo, but Eho took him away to have his leg looked at more before I had the chance. Heading back to my dorm, I pondered,  _ what should I do today? _

_ Hmmm… maybe there’s something useful I can buy at the school store,  _ I thought, and decided to make my way there. When I opened the door to the warehouse/store room, I saw someone browsing through the wares, before he and his bird noticed me.

“Ah, good day Josuke.” Genjo said to me. “I’m assuming you want to investigate the school store as well, now that we can use our goustocoins?”

“School store! Goustocoins!” Beaks shouted. “Genjo think you should help!”

“Might as well.” I remarked. “If the bird says I should, then I don’t exactly have a choice, do I?”

Genjo and I began investigating the store’s wares. Most of them seemed pretty useless or weird, such as a snowglobe but it was labeled an ‘asbestos-globe’, matchboxes soaked in water, and  _...a gun of man’s passion? _

“You find anything?” I heard Beak’s high-pitched voice next to my ear. On the other side was Genjo, who seemed to be frustrated. Walking over to him, I said “Sorry, didn’t find anything of use.”

“That’s a shame.” Genjo said. “I was hoping to find something more high-quality then the stuff in my dorm and the warehouse. Curious, I inquired what he meant. “Oh,” he said. “I’m referring to the birdseed that Beaks eats. The stuff we have here is very low in quality, so I was hoping to find something… better. Oh well.”

“You must really care about your bird if you’re willing to pay up a lot of money for better food.” I pondered out loud. “Doesn’t it get expensive, sometimes?”

“It does.” Genjo said. “Thankfully, the work I do earns me more than enough to pay for it.”

Curious, I inquired more. “What kind of work do you do?”

“Even before the days I met Beaks,” Genjo started, “I used to be a volunteer tour guide at a rainforest. The rainforest in question had a very large population of parrots, which was the main reason I decided to take the job in the first place. Unfortunately, I never really got to interact and study the beautiful creatures, as my job mainly consisted of telling children to stay on the path and guide them through the wilderness. However, one day a parrot landed on my shoulder and refused to leave. Even when I tried to go home, it always stuck around me, so I decided to raise it myself. Around 5 years later… well here we are.”

“So that’s Beaks’ origin story, then?” I commented. Before Genjo could say anything, Beaks started rapidly nodding its head up and down, while tweeting at me. 

We finished investigating in the store, with nothing new in our pockets. Genjo and beaks departed from the school store to look for other things to search, but as I went to follow them…

“Hey Josuke!” Ruka was standing behind me, “Investigating the warehouse too? There are a lot of things in here, why not check it all?”

Despite my attempts to tell Ruka about what Kaiya, Mei, and I didn’t find, she insisted that we simply missed something and dragged me to investigate even more. As we were going through each individual item on the shelves, Ruka whispered to me.

“So hey, how did you become a criminal investigator?” The question was nonchalant, which was not surprising coming from Ruka. I sighed, but also grinned. “It’s a long story, and I don’t want to bore you with the details. But if you insist…”

I told her about how I lived in poverty for most of my life, and often had to sleep on the streets. There was a lot of violence within the alleyways of the city, and often people were killed. I started to figure out how people died just by what I knew, and from there on out I could actually find out who killed them. Ever since then, I’ve been a private investigator mainly for criminal activity, mainly murders. 

“Wow, Josuke!” Ruka said. “That’s so cool! In return for your amazing story, I’ll tell you how I got into acting and being a TV Star!”

“Of course, it all went back to middle school. I wasn’t exactly in the best place in terms of grades, as well as not really having any aspirations in life. My teachers suggested that I join a club which might boost my grades a bit, so I chose the drama club at random. The thing was, that I didn’t know how acting and letting a fictional character take over you would be such an exhilarating experience! I eventually pursued the path of an actress, and well, the results speak for themselves… are you yawning?”

“Oh no!” I stuttered. “I was just… alright yeah I was yawning, I don’t really like listening to other people’s life stories that much.”

We continued to investigate the warehouse together, and like I had told Ruka before- no dice. Despite its immense size, there was nothing we could find that would be useful in any way, aside from some food and clothes. We departed ways, and stayed in my room to contemplate what I had found… or more specifically, the fact that I found nothing useful at all.

Some hours passed, and it was time for the evening meeting. Walking toward the dining hall, I was greeted with the usual crowd- it seems like I was the last one to arrive, but there were a few people missing.

“Taro and Heizo are no-shows like usual…” Tetsu mumbled. “And it looks like Tadakuni is still being harassed by Eho about his leg…”

“I mean, obviously someone as sour as those two aren’t gonna show up.” Ruka added. “And besides, Heizo’s not really someone we want around anyway, and I don’t think Taro will help us even if we got on our knees and begged.”

“Moving on…” Monaca said. “Now, did anyone find anything useful?” There was a heavy silence that filled the classroom, as the answer to Monaca’s question became more and more apparent. But there was someone that broke that silence.

“Seriously?” Shoken grumbled. “We’ve been trapped for three days now, and not one of you has found  _ anything useful? _ How? It’s not like this is a big place or anything!”

“Hey, calm down Shoken!” Mei said, trying to lighten the mood. “We’re all stressed, and it’s only been a few days, we’ll find something even-”

“ _Eventually?_ ” Shoken yelled. “And tell me, Mei, how can we be sure that the time we actually find a clue about this whole thing, all of us are still alive and breathing? That’s your problem, Mei. All you do is cross your fingers and hope that someone else finds something! Wanna know why? Because someone like you doesn’t even have the mental capacity for investigating-”

“Knock it off, Shoken.”

“Huh?”

Kaiya’s voice grew even stronger. “I know how you feel. Being trapped in a place like this- we’re all on edge about what could happen. Heizo’s cynical attitude and Taro’s depressive mood doesn’t exactly help either… but taking your anger and stress on others will not help anything.”

Shoken looked surprised, terrified even at Kaiya. She looked away for a second before returning to her normal, agitated state. “Hmph… fine.” 

“Th-thank you, Kaiya!” Mei ran over to Kaiya, giving her a big hug. “You’re amazing, you know that?” Kaiya suddenly blushed from Mei’s sudden attack, before shaking off Mei’s small, short body. “Th-thanks, but I’m only trying to ease the situation… it’s nothing.” Mei let go, and as she walked back, I heard her comment “Man, Kaiya really is a tsundere…”

“Well, assuming that no one has anything else to add-” Monaca said, but was interrupted by Ruka. “Actually, it’s not something I found, but something I think we should talk about.”

“Hmm?” Jackson hummed, looking at Ruka. “What is it?”

Ruka was writing down…  _ something,  _ on a piece of paper. “I don’t think anyone would feel safe at night, especially when any of us could kill someone at any time.” She commented, sending a chill up my spine. “So, I think we should have a few self-imposed rules to make nights more bearable!”

She held up the piece of paper, on it was only two rules: “Rule #1: No going outside of your dorm room at night. Rule #2: If you do wish to go out at night, you have to either ask Monaca first or have at least one other person with you!”

“These are great rules, Ruka…” Monaca commented. “...but I have to ask, why ask me?”

“You’re essentially our leader now, aren’t you?” Ruka added. “You organized the meetings, prompted everyone about what they found… you are, in a way, the leader!”

“And an amazing one at that!” Jackson added, which caught Monaca by surprise. “Well, alright then.” she commented. “In that case, I think we should all head for bed. Goodn-”

As she was about to finish her sentence, the loud, obnoxious big-band nighttime announcement came on. “ The time is now 10PM, which is the start of nighttime! Sweet dreams, everyone!”

As I headed to my dorm and off to bed, I thought about a lot of things, but mainly about what had happened with Tadakuni and Heizo. Clearly Tadakuni wants to tell me something that happened between the two, but what? Hopefully I’ll get a chance to talk with him in the morning… but for now, I should get some rest.

As I drifted to sleep ending the day, it almost felt… peaceful. But there was a feeling inside my mind I just could not get rid of.

_ This peaceful feeling… it’s not gonna last forever. I know the mastermind behind all of this is planning something… but what? _

Soon, I stopped thinking about it, and let my consciousness drift away as I fell asleep.


	8. The First Death

_ Beep beep beep beep beep beep!  _ The sound of Monogousto’s morning announcement filled my dorm room like a dam flooding a nearby village. I slowly woke myself up and crawled out of bed, and began putting some new clothes on. I was just about to put on my hat when I heard  _ that voice  _ call out.

“Hello! Hello!” Monogousto’s voice called out. I slowly turned around to see that insufferable little computer screen I’ve grown to hate. “Once you are finished preparing for today, I want everyone to meet in the dining hall. I know most of you already do so, so I want all 16 students to please come as soon as possible.

“At least…  _ the ones that are still alive…”  _ Monogousto cut off his announcement as I was placing on my hat.  _ An announcement, huh?  _ I thought.  _ Shouldn’t be a big deal…  _ But as I focused more on that last sentence…

_ No, it can’t be... if he’s implying what I think he’s implying… _

_ Is… _

_ Is someone dead? _

As soon as I realized the horrifying possibility, I felt my heart beating faster and faster. I dashed through my dorm door as quickly as possible, forgetting to lock it. But that didn’t matter.  _ Someone… might be dead! _

I made it to the dining hall, clutching my chest as I sprinted into it. Monaca, Jackson, Kaiya, Mei, Kioshi, Ruka, Tetsu, Zenko, and Shoken were already there. They all had a worried or even panicked look on their faces. I chugged through an entire mug of coffee in one go, despite that being the last thing I should drink. Eventually, the others managed to walk in, one by one, with looks ranging from near-anxiety attacks to not caring at all. 

That’s when… he appeared.

“Ah, good morning everyone! I hope everyone’s slept well, although I can see why it could be difficult to do so. It’s not every day when the thought of someone murdering you or someone else is constantly apparent- good morning Tadakuni and Eho!”

I turned toward the entrance of the dining hall to see Tadakuni still walking on his cane, with Eho beside him making sure he doesn’t fall over. “Good morning, everyone…” Eho managed to stutter out, but it was very clear she was just as nervous as the rest of us.

“Now, back to my announcement-” Monogousto continued before realizing something. “Wait a minute… no, not yet… we’re missing someone.”

My heart dropped as I heard him say that, and as I looked around, it seemed to be the same for everyone else.  _ If Monogousto called everyone here…  _ I thought.  _ Then…  _ I quickly started counting how many people were here.  _ So including myself… that makes 15. 15… someone’s not here. _

My heart beating even faster, I looked around to see if anyone was missing. But it only took three words from Heizo to say the realization I had come to.

“Taro’s not here.”

As soon as Heizo said that… it felt like my heart came to a complete stop.  _ Are we too late? Did one of us succumb to murder?  _ Millions of thoughts filled my head as I tried to make sense of what was happening. But as many of us began to think the worst-

A familiar face walked into the dining hall. And when I saw him, it felt like a massive weight was lifted off my chest.

“You took a while getting ready, Mr. Taro,” Monogousto commented. He looked the same as usual, with minimal changes to what he was wearing when I last saw him. “But I suppose we can get started now.

“Anyways, I just want to express how disappointed I am in you all. It’s been almost 3 days, and none of you have even done so much as attempt a murder… no matter, these things do take time after all.”

“Is that what you wanted to tell us?” Jackson grumbled. “To tell us that we’re not murdering each other?”

“I assure you, Mr. Jackson,” Monogousto continued, “that is not the motive for this announcement. Speaking of motives, however, since this seems to be taking a lot more time than we thought, I have prepared something that might get you the drive to kill.”

“Now, I know many of you are currently wishing to escape. But, the desire to not kill anyone, even if it means living here for the rest of your days is even stronger than the desire to get it over with and escape. Or maybe it’s because you simply don’t have what it takes to kill. Thankfully, I have prepared a solution for you! Hidden within this school, is a secret gateway that will allow one and only one person to leave Ikiruyume Academy!”

Everyone gasped in amazement. People were cheering, and smiling about the news. Sure, we all knew that only one person can escape, but that person could get help and get us out of here.

_ No.  _ I thought.  _ There’s gotta be a catch. Monogousto, who’s trapped us here forcing us to play a horrific killing game wouldn’t give us an opportunity like this. _

“What’s the catch?” Taro said, coldly to Monogousto. “You wouldn’t give us this chance if you would make us play this game in the first place.”

“Bingo!” Monogousto cheered. “Mr. Taro is correct. The hidden gate has a catch- the person that uses the gateway earns themselves a  _ solidarity victory-  _ that is, if someone decides to use the exit and leave the game for good… “ Monogousto paused, emulating a breath.

“Everyone else will die.”

I knew that there had to be some catch. Monogousto wouldn’t let us win like this so easily. He knew that, too. That’s why he did something like this.

“Why are you all complaining?” Monogousto sneered. “You should be grateful I’m giving you a way to escape without dirtying your own hands! No complicated murder plan, no hassle of a trial, nothing!”

“But still,” Kaiya replied. “In the end, you’re still taking the lives of everyone here if you decide to use the exit. It is no different than committing murder yourself, just without being directly involved.”

“However you like to interpret it,” Monogousto added, “it is, completely up to you if you want to use it. However, I should add that if murder does occur, then the secret exit will be closed up for good! Although, I do not know why someone would go all the hassle of killing someone when a much better solution is right there…”

“As for the location of the gate itself… well, you’re all going to have to find it yourselves! My lips will be sealed, and I will not reveal the location! It is a ‘secret’ exit, after all. Anyway, I have one more thing to announce. This is not directed at all of you, just at least one person.” Monogousto’s voice suddenly went cold.

“You know exactly who you are when I say this. You may consider yourselves not part of this, safe, even, from this game. You are not. I know what you are planning, and any attempt to go through with it will be met with an equal amount of resistance, and I do not wish to take it any further. You know exactly what I’m talking about- it’s why you’re here, is it not? I’ve already talked to you once about this, and for both your sake and for the sake of everyone else, I’d rather not repeat myself. That is all. Anyway, have fun looking for the exit!” Monogousto went off, leaving behind sixteen confused Ultimate Students. 

“A gate?” Tadakuni stuttered, in his confusion. Everyone in the dining hall looked like they were about to break into a panic. It was only  _ her  _ voice that managed to calm everyone down.

“Guys, guys!” Monaca shouted. “We can’t be worrying about what Monogousto is doing. The whole point of it is to make us distrust each other, and that’s what the mastermind wants! Are we really going to flop around like a fish like this?”

“That’s right, you guys!” Jackson exclaimed. “We can’t defeat the mastermind if we keep panicking like this!”

It seemed the words of Monaca and Jackson managed to cheer everyone up. There was a newfound relief felt within all of us, and everyone around seems to portray that.

Everyone, except those two, of course.

“Eh? You really think someone won’t find and use the secret exit?” Heizo sneered. “I thought you were only slightly delusional, but wow.”

“I hate to agree with someone like him…” Taro added. “But he’s right. We’ve only been here for around three days. We don’t truly know what everyone else is thinking.

“Well, if that’s the end of the announcement, there’s no need for me to stick around you guys,” Taro commented. “Hopefully I won’t have to see you guys for a while.” And with that, he left the dining hall.

“Well?” Mei said to Heizo, looking at him angrily. “Aren’t you going to join him?”

“No thanks,” Heizo said. “By the way Tadakuni is looking at me, it seems that he wants to tell me something… or  _ tell everyone something about me.” _

I stopped. Flashbacks from Tadakuni and Heizo’s argument started flashing back in my mind, as I knew that whatever Heizo was referring to, it would be exposed here. 

“Well, Tadakuni?” Heizo joked. “You know it’s gonna have to be said sooner or later. And if you won’t, I will.”

Tadakuni’s face grew even more worried. It looked like he was about to say something, but couldn’t get the right words out of his mouth. Eventually, Heizo grew tired of waiting.

...and he began talking.

“You see guys…” Heizo said. “I’m planning a murder.”

…

…

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Heizo’s statement right now had shocked everyone even more than the reveal of the gate, or even the reveal of the killing. Being told that you’re in a killing game is one thing, but to actually have someone say that they plan to kill…

“Hey, what the fuck are you saying?” Shoken screamed. “You can’t be doing that!”

“And why not?” was Heizo’s reply. “Whether you like it or not, someone, eventually, will kill. You can’t deny it, in all honestly I actually expected death by now, but apparently not.”

“If you are planning a kill…” I responded, with harshness in my voice. “Then why did you tell us? Someone who’s actually planning a murder would never share it with the rest of us.”

“Ah! You caught me!” Heizo exclaimed, almost sarcastically. “All I am saying is that if no one intends to kill, then I shall be the one to strike first. Who knows, maybe I should kill that filthy Taro. His kind shouldn’t even be allowed to walk this earth.” And with that, Heizo left the dining hall, all of us stunned.

“What… was that?” Mei stuttered, bewildered at what had just happened.

“That son of a bitch....” Jackson whispered under his breath, before bolting out of the dining hall. “I’m not letting any murders happen, and I won’t let you kill!”

“Should… we go get him?” I whispered to Monaca, who was analyzing the situation at hand. Monaca then replied “No, let him chase Heizo. I don’t think we could afford a murder anyway.”

After we were all dazed and confused, everyone started discussing what to do next. When it came to the topic of the hidden gate, Monaca suggested that we do look for it and when we find it, we tell everyone else, so we can guard it at all times. While there was some hesitation about the idea from a few people, in the end, we all agreed it was for the best. But when the topic moved to Heizo planning to murder, everyone looked over to Tadakuni, who took a deep breath before talking.

“Yesterday morning,” Tadakuni began, “I got outside of my room after my leg has somewhat healed. I found a cane in my dorm room and used it to go to the dining hall, and that’s when I met up with Heizo. He then told me that… he was going to kill someone.”

“Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?” Ruka exclaimed. “Obviously that’s really important information to know!”

“I know…” Tadakuni continued. “But if I had told you guys… I don’t know what he would have done. I’m sorry for not telling you guys earlier.”

After everyone explained what to do next, we all had our breakfast and went our separate ways. We all agreed to investigate separate rooms to find the gate, and hope that it isn’t too hidden that we can’t find it. I chose classroom 1-B, as I really haven’t investigated any of those yet. Entering the classroom, I was greeted by a normal-looking classroom, with a bunch of chairs and desks. And yet, it felt… empty. Like all life that once existed just… disappeared. I investigated every inch of the room, feeling frustrated when nothing appears. However, as I approached one of the corners of the classroom, something caught my eye so much I almost jumped.

_ A bloodstain. _

It was an extremely large one as well, I didn’t even know how I didn’t see it at first. The bloodstain was dry- I estimated it could have been here from 6 months all the way to a year… not exactly a detailed analysis, but it’s the best I can do.  _ But even so,  _ I thought,  _ how did the bloodstain get here?  _

My train of thought was further derailed as I noticed something tucked in the bloodstain. A ripped sheet of paper crumpled up into a ball. I picked it up and carefully as I could to not damage it, slowly unraveled the paper, wondering if there is anything of importance on it. The note read:

_ ‘To whom this may concern… I just want you to know to please, get out of here. I don’t know what they’re going to do to me, but they’ll most likely do it to you, too. Get out of here. Please, don’t do what I did and linger around for-’  _ The note cut off there, due to the massive rip in between. As I began making more and more connections from the bloodstain and note, a voice called out from behind me.

“Hey! Josuke!” Tadakuni’s voice surprised me as I turned around sharply. Quickly, I hid the note in my pocket.  _ I don’t know what it could mean, and I don’t want Tadakuni to stress over it, either. _

“What did you need?” I asked him, trying to make sure he doesn’t notice the bloodstain. That’s when I remembered. “I thought Heizo had already told everyone what happened between you two yesterday,” I questioned. “Is there more?”

Tadakuni nodded and said. “To be honest, I knew he would never reveal what he actually said to me in our conversation.” Tadakuni began to walk over to me, put his mouth through my ear, and began whispering something.

“ _ It’s more than just Heizo killing someone. He’s also…” _

_ … _

_ … _

_ … _

_ What the fuck? _

_ I mean, I knew that he was not in the right mind, but… how? _

“What the hell do you mean by that?!” I exclaimed.  _ There’s no way that’s possible. _

“I can’t speak anymore, mainly because I still don’t know much about this whole thing. That’s all Heizo told me.” Tadakuni said.

“I…” I stuttered, trying to look for words.

“I’m… going to bed early.” I finally managed to say something. “Tell the others I’m not coming.”

Tadakuni looked confused for a moment, but then said, “Okay, I’ll tell them. You get some rest.”

I walked back to my dorm room and just… collapsed on my bed. It was only 8 PM, only two hours until the nighttime announcement. I just laid there, thinking about what I had learned today.  _ The bloodstain, the note, the fact that Heizo’s… _

I tried to force that last thought out of my head.  _ Heizo has to be lying. There’s no way he would tell anyone that. But then again… if he was lying, what motive would he have? _

Eventually, my own worries and confusion tired me out so much that I fell asleep without even realizing it. Today went by so fast, and yet it seemed to have taken a massive toll on me without me even realizing it. The nighttime announcement then began to play, but to me, it was just a bunch of sounds at this point.

…

For the first time in a while, I woke up without Monogousto’s jarring alarm playing in my ear. I checked the clock to see how much time there was until the morning announcement.  _ 6:30 PM, huh…  _ I thought.  _ Might as well make my way and cook some breakfast. _

I got dressed for the morning and trudged my way through the door. But as soon as I left my dorm room…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

That was…

That was…  _ Mei’s scream! And it’s coming from… _

I looked over to the garbage room door. It seemed that all the energy I had lost yesterday suddenly sprang into high gear as I made my way toward the source of Mei’s scream: the garbage room.

_ And there, I saw… _

_ I.... saw… _

_ Standing around was me, Mei, Heizo, and Ruka as we all stared at the horrifying image being portrayed before us. An image that I will never forget as long as I live. _

_ Tied up by their wrists with their head covered in blood… _

_...was the deceased corpse of Kaiya Fukunaga, the Ultimate Astrophysicist.  _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are... the first death. Now, the real question is: who did it?


	9. The Body Discovery Announcement

_ *Ding dong, bing bong*  _

_ “A body has been discovered! Everyone, please make your way to the trash room!” _

As Monogousto’s grating voice rang out in the school’s halls, I looked at the terrifying sight lying before me. Kaiya Fukunaga, the person that defended everyone to the best they could, the person that created a possibly inseparable bond with Mei, the  _ first person that I told about my sister… was dead. _

Ruka and I were just standing there, in shock at what happened. Heizo had a look of concern on his face, but nothing more. But Mei…

She was just laying there, face down on the ground, covered in tears. Her sobs only grew quieter due to the number of people suddenly climbing up to see what had happened. The reactions from everyone else were just as horrifying.

“I’m here! What did-” Monaca said, before laying eyes on Kaiya’s corpse. “I- I- what?”

“Ahhh! What the fuck?” Jackson spewed out, banging his fists on the wall.

“What the-,” Genjo said, trying to get words out of his mouth. Everyone’s reactions were very similar. Even someone as quiet as Kioshi or as brash as Shoken even managed to scream in terror. We were all confused, screaming, and terrified. While I was accustomed to dead bodies, I can’t say the same for the others. But as Monaca finally regained her composure and tried to calm everyone down…

“Ah! It actually happened!” Monogousto’s voice called out. A monitor descended from the ceiling, and on the screen was, of course, Monogousto. “You know, I wasn’t actually expecting a murder! I was actually expecting someone to use the gate! It would save all the hustle and bustle of hiding your evidence, and the class trial, but oh well!”

“Enough with the chit-chat, you fucker.” I spat out. “What the hell is the meaning of this?”

“What is the meaning of this?” Monogousto pondered. “I’m very sure you know what the meaning of this is, Mr. Josuke.” The abomination of a headmaster paused for a minute, then continued with words that shook everyone to the core.

**“One of you killed Ms. Kaiya over here.”**

“What?” Tetsu stammered, unable to find words. “That’s impossible! No one would kil-”

“But someone did. Tetsu.” The familiar voice that irked me as soon as I heard it was,  _ of course, his voice. _

Heizo continued. “I’m pretty sure it’s outlined very clearly in the rules. Monogousto can’t kill anyone aside from punishment, and it looks like Kaiya definitely did not kill herself. Plus, this game is meant for us to kill each other, and with that plus the process of elimination, the only person that could kill her is-”

“Shut up!” Mei screamed, at the top of her lungs. “Just… shut up!”

“No, Mei,” Ruka spoke up. “I don’t want to admit it myself, but he’s right. I know that you don’t like the truth, none of us do, but someone here really did kill her.”

“Ah, I’m so glad someone recognizes my ideas,” Heizo replied. “But to be honest, I don’t feel comfortable being around a murder and a dead body, so I’ll take my leave.” And with that, Heizo left the garbage room.

“I suppose I should help you all get started on your investigation.” Monogousto continued. “I know while some of you do have experience with investigations and autopsies and all that crap, to put it simply, not everyone will! That’s why I have uploaded something to your handbooks that will help! I call them _ Death Reports!  _ I suggest you read over them to get a basic idea of the case! Anyway, no more questions! Investigate away!” The monitor rose back up into the ceiling, and a small ‘ding’ could be heard from our pockets. I grabbed it and saw a small tab named ‘Evidence’. But before I could view the report, Monaca started speaking.

“Guys, please calm down.” she began. “I know that this is difficult, and I’m not going to say something like ‘we’ll get over it and it’ll make us stronger’ or something like that. I know that some of you are saddened by Kaiya’s death, and some of you are fearful of the fact that there is a killer among us. However, if we don’t find out who killed our friend, we all die, and the murderer gets away with it. That’s why we need to band together and find the culprit. We need to co-operate, whether we trust each other or not. I know it sounds cheesy, but we need to work together to overcome this.” Monaca paused, for a brief moment. “One more thing, if the killer happens to be listening,  _ you are not going to run away from this. You will be caught, and honestly, it would be a lot easier if you just confess right now.” _

After a brief period of the killer not confessing, I began. “Alright, right now we need someone to guard the crime scene. Otherwise, the killer could dispose of evidence any time and we couldn’t do anything.”

“I’ll… do it.” A very meek reply came from Mei, whose face was red from crying. “I… want to be with Kaiya no matter what… to the very end.”

“Alright, sounds good,” Monaca replied before I stopped her. “Hold on a second. We actually need to have at least two people guarding the scene. If on the off chance that Mei happens to be the killer… she could dispose of evidence whenever she wants.”

“Hey!” Mei choked, in between tears. “I’m not… the killer!”

“Well, having an extra guard is for your sake as well, Mei,” Ruka added. “After all… we wouldn’t want you to get hurt, don’t we?”

A chill went down my spine as Ruka said that, but before anyone else could comment on it, Zenko spoke, or should I say, screamed up. “IN THAT CASE, I WILL ASSIST!” he screamed. “I do not have the mind for solving murders, so I will help Mei in the guarding of the body!”

“Well, that’s that problem solved,” I said, facing everyone. “Now, I want each and every one of you to help out as much as you can. The more information on this murder, the better. Because if we get this wrong… we pay the price.”

Most people began to leave the garbage room, with a few people staying around to investigate. Monaca stayed behind to help console Mei, while Eho started performing a simple autopsy, to get more information on the cause of Kaiya’s death.

Ruka was by my side, which felt weird, as most of the time I investigated alone. In a way, it almost felt comforting to have someone by my side, but I shouldn’t let this distract me.

_ I have to do this. I have… to find out who killed her.  _

_ There’s no time to just stand around until the trial. I need evidence. Alibis. Testimonies. Anything that I can get my hands on… _

_...to find the monster that did this. _

**_Investigation- START! -----------------------_ **

The first thing I should do is look over the ‘Death Report’ Monogousto gave us. Even if its contents are not factual, it should give us an insight into Kaiya’s death. Opening it up displayed some basic information on the victim herself, as well as a small excerpt.

_ The victim is Kaiya Fukunaga, the Ultimate Astrophysicist. The body was discovered in the garbage room, with the victim’s wrists tied to the dividing gate with a rope-like object. The cause of death was a  _ **_single blow to the head_ ** _ , and aside from a small wound on the victim’s right foot, there are no other injuries or foreign substances used. The time of death is estimated to be between  _ **_12:00 to 12:30 AM_ ** _. _

_ Huh, for what seems to be a guideline, it’s surprisingly more detailed than I thought.  _ I thought to myself.  _ Might want to jot this down for later. _

**[Kaiya’s Death Report] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

The first thing that caught my attention when looking around the crime scene was an iron pipe, laying near the body. It looked like you could maybe hold it in one hand, but it also looked pretty heavy. The reason it caught my attention so much, was because  **one end of the pipe was covered in blood.**

“Think that could be the murder weapon?” Ruka commented, spotting what I was looking at it. I nodded, confirming that this had to be the murder weapon. Looking near the entrance, there was a large pile of wood and scrap metal. I remember that Tadakuni was digging around there when we first met, and I did see a few pipes. So it seems as if the  **murder weapon came from here.** Let’s add it to my evidence, shall we?

**[Bloody Iron Pipe] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“Alright, then.” I nodded. “Eho, I hope you don’t mind that I investigate the body alongside you.” She looked at me and gave me a gentle smile. It felt weird investigating a body like this, despite me doing it countless times back in the outside world. I looked at the head wound that was most likely Kaiya’s finishing blow, and no doubt about it-  _ it matched the iron pipe perfectly.  _ Moreso, I found it near the  **back of her head as well.** I also decided to find out what the wound on Kaiya’s foot meant, so I went to take off her socks and shoes to find out more and-

“Huh?” I sputtered. “Kaiya’s already not wearing any footwear? Eho, did you take them off or something?” Eho looked at me and shook her head, before replying “It was like that when we found her. And to be honest, **I think she was always barefoot.** Don’t know why, but her feet didn’t seem to smell, so I didn’t worry about it!”

I decided to ignore that for now and focus on the wound on her right foot. It didn’t take long to find out what it meant-  **Kaiya’s big toenail on her right foot was broken.** Not completely shattered, but it looked like what hit them hit them pretty hard.

**[Examination Summary] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

But as I finished my investigation of the body, my eyes darted toward the wrists. Specifically, the file noted she was hanged by her wrists with a rope-like object, so I wanted to inspect that a bit more. But upon further inspection…

_ This isn’t rope… it’s…  _ **_wool?_ **

_ If the killer was planning on hanging the body like this, why would they  _ **_use something like this instead of rope?_ **

**[Wool Thread] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

_ I think that’s all I can really investigate, for now,  _ I thought.  _ I should let Eho return to her autopsy while I- huh?  _ I didn’t even notice until now, but on the opposite end of the room from the entrance, a small section of the wall was slightly indented. It was only slightly pushed in, but it looked around as high as Jackson was. I tried pushing on it, only to be greeted by  _ that  _ obnoxious voice again.

“What! Do! You! Think! You’re! Doing! Mister! Josuke?” Monogousto’s voice grated against my ear like it was being chopped off. “What the hell do you want?” I muttered.

“Nothing, really, I just came to congratulate you!” Monogousto replied. “You have found the secret exit motive!”

“Wh-What?” I stammered.  _ The secret exit motive was here all along? _

“Yup, although you’re a bit late to first place.” Monogousto continued. “Just last night, someone was trying to use it!” 

“What?” Ruka stuttered, listening in on our conversation. “Someone tried to kill all of us?”

“Oops, I have said too much,” Monogousto said while leaving. “Good luck with your investigations, and I’ll see you all at trial!”

“Interesting,” I said out loud. “Last night, in this room, someone not only killed Kaiya but also someone else tried to use the exit.” 

_ But the problem was who used it… was it the killer? The victim? Or some third party? Either way, I better note this down. _

**[Secret Exit Motive] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“So, are you done here?” Ruka asked. I shook my head. “No, there’s still one thing I only just realized now.” I looked down at the floor and asked Ruka “Do you notice any dust, or hair, or anything like that?”

“No… I don’t.” Ruka answered, with a questioning, almost sarcastic tone. “I’m assuming you do, because I don’t see anything.”

“I don’t see anything either.” I replied. “No dust, hair, dead skin, this floor is completely clean.”

“How exactly does that help anything?”

“It’s a garbage room.” I replied. “Doesn’t that seem off? There’s not even a single drop of blood.”  _ Which means that we can’t use hair to find out who the culprit was, nor can we find out where exactly in the garbage room Kaiya was killed. Meaning that someone most likely cleaned the floor after committing their crime. _

**[Clean Floor] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

_ It looks like there’s nothing else to investigate here… looks like I’ll just have to get some alibis.  _ I started with Eho, as she seemed to be taking a break from her autopsy.

“Hey, just to be sure, what were you doing at around midnight.” She looked surprised as she turned around. “Oh! Well, I was helping Tadakuni with his leg again. I thought we were in the clear, but he fell over during the evening meeting. So I was up all night trying to fix his leg, and I think I left around… 2AM? It was tiring, and a lot more work than I thought.”

“Thank you, Eho.” I replied. 

**[Eho’s Account] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

Next was Zenko. I managed to build up the courage to talk to him, and started with “Hey… uh Zenko? What were you-”

“OH HI JOSUKE!” Zenko screamed. “So you want my alibi! I’ll give you one!”

“After I left the meeting, I went straight to my dorm to practice wrestling. I can’t let my strength go away in this place! But then I decided to grab a midnight snack, so I left my dorm! I ran into Ruka, and we talked for around an hour before I went to grab my snack. On the way, I also ran into Kioshi and Heizo, as they were getting snacks too! I then went back to my dorm and practised wrestling all morning!”

“In other words, you broke our nighttime rule about leaving during night.” Ruka sighed. “But for the record, yes, Zenko ran into me last night. We talked and talked about god-knows-what in my dorm. Can’t confirm the other stuff, though.”

“You can’t blame me for breaking rules you never told me!” Zenko sighed. “I can’t read or write, you know! And then you went and wrote the rules or somethin’ and never told me what they said!”

“I’m sorry…” I said. “You… can’t read?”

“Fraid so!” Zenko exclaimed. “I was gonna start learning during my stay at Ikiruyume, but then this bullcrap happened!”

_ As crazy as he is, I should note down his alibi. I feel as if it’s going to be very important for this case… _

“OH! One more thing, Josuke!” Zenko shouted at the top of his lungs. “I remember… I doubt Ruka heard it, but when we were talking, I heard two weird noises. One was like a small…  _ thunk _ ? I think? And the other was a much louder  _ clank _ ! I thought it was just the incinerator, which is why I ignored them. You can’t blame me!”

...

**[Zenko’s Account] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

Next was Monaca. I was going to go for Mei, but considering her emotional state right now… not exactly a good idea.

“Hey Monaca…” I talked to her. “What did you do last night?”

“Oh!” Monaca exclaimed. “Well, after the meeting, I went straight to bed. Not much of an alibi, I know, but it was nighttime…”

“I understand.” I said.

“But still,” Monaca continued. “I can’t believe that Kaiya’s gone. Whoever takes care of the trash will have a terrible time…”

“Hold that thought.” I said.  _ What… is she talking about?  _ “What do you mean by ‘Whoever takes care of the trash’?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” Monaca said. “Yesterday morning, Monogousto asked me to assign a garbage disposal person. I picked from a random list including myself, and Mei was assigned garbage duty! In fact, I think she collected and deposited trash yesterday morning… not saying she’s guilty, no no no! Just thought you should know!”

_ Mei… was on garbage duty? _

“Hey Mei, I know this isn’t a good time to ask you…” Mei looked at me, a bit more calmed down. “I heard your conversation… and yeah. I was assigned garbage duty! And I did deposit some yesterday, all by myself! But I didn’t kill Kaiya!”

_...She’s lying. _

_ I know, with a face like that, she’s very likely not the killer. _

_ But… while I don’t know how, there is, without a doubt, a contradiction in that statement. I just don’t know what… _

_ Might have to jot those two testimonies down. _

**[Monaca’s Account] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

**[Mei’s Account] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

_ I think I’m done here.  _

With Ruka in tow, I climbed down the garbage shaft and mentally made a list of places to investigate and people to talk to…

_ For places to visit, the best places to visit would be Kaiya’s dorm room to find out more info on our victim. Going to the warehouse to find where the killer got a wool string would be also quite handy… As for people, I’d have to talk to Tadakuni, Kioshi, and Heizo to confirm everyone’s alibis. I can get more during the trial. _

The first stop was Kaiya’s dorm. After a lot of arguing (and swearing) from both me and Monogousto, we finally got to enter her dormitory. And what Ruka and I saw as we both walked in was…

“What the hell…” Ruka stuttered. “...is this place? Does this pigsty really belong to the Kaiya we know?”

Ruka’s comment about it being a ‘pigsty’ would be an understatement. There were astrology posters once posted to the wall now either laying on the ground or about to. Notes that were written in chicken scratch were scattered all over the place, dust was practically everywhere, and the bed was so messy it looked like a toddler could do better even if they didn’t try.  _ And the stench… _

**[Kaiya’s Dorm Room] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“Let’s just get this over with.” I muttered. My first order of business here was her desk- all of her drawers were filled to the brim with different astronomy and astrophysics notes, except for her top drawer, which was a single notebook with a leather cover.

“What’s that?” Ruka inquired, as I picked up the small book. “Looks like a journal… doubt I’d be of any importance.”

“Don’t underestimate evidence like this.” I said, opening the journal. “We need as much as we can.”

I opened it up and on the cover was the words ‘To my best friend Kaiya, love, Setsuko.’ I almost felt my heart about to burst seeing those names, but I quickly regained my composure. I flipped throughout the pages and they all seemed to be some sort of journal. It documented her life before coming here, the process of getting accepted into Ikiruyume, as well as the killing game here. There were even little scribbles of what I think is a portrait of her and Mei holding hands, and it took everything not to burst into tears. But what really caught me was the last entry in the journal.

_ It’s been four days since I arrived here at Ikiruyume Academy. Monogousto introduced us with a motive that allows one person to survive and escape while everyone else dies. Should I take it? No, for Mei, as well as everyone else’s sake I must not take it… but I might have to. Tonight, I have to do something very important for Mei, otherwise she might be hurt, even killed. Even if it results in my death or the death of everyone else, I have no choice.  _

It looked like the passage had ended, but as my eyes drifted downward, I noticed a small note at the bottom that sent chills down my spine. 

_ To whoever is reading this now… it looks like the unfortunate has happened and I was right about the meeting. I’m sorry you had to see my room like this, cleanliness was never my strong suite. So unless Mei herself is reading this, please tell her that while I may come off as emotionally distant, I really do care for her. _

“What’s the matter, Josuke?” Ruka said, trying to peer at the journal entry. I closed the book as quickly as I could, and wrote it down in my evidence.

**[Kaiya’s Journal] has been added to the truth bullets.**

Ruka and I left the dorm room after we didn’t find anything. But as we began to go to the warehouse…

“Ah! Guys! Guys!” Tetsu was screaming at us. “It’s terrible! It’s… It’s!”

“Calm down Tetsu!” I screamed. “What is it? What happened?”

“We… found Taro.” Tetsu panicked.

_ Taro? Oh, that’s right, he didn’t come to the garbage room when the body discovery announcement played… what the fuck happened? _

“The classrooms…” Tetsu muttered. “He’s… in…”

“Say no more.” Ruka stammered, and the three of us ran into a classroom I’m all too familiar with.  _ Classroom 1-B. _

_ What we found was… _

“Taro?”

“Hey.” He muttered, sitting in a chair, with a bandage tied around his head. “I… don’t exactly know how to put this, but I think someone tried to kill me.”

  
  



	10. Mysterious Assailant

“What the hell do you mean by someone tried to kill you!” I was looking at Telijo Taro, the talentless student, sitting in a chair, with a bandage tied around his head. He looked his usual depressed self but slightly more agitated than usual.

I looked directly into Taro’s eyes and began questioning him. “Tell me exactly what happened.” We need to know everything we can about this case. “What the hell do you mean by that? Who tried to kill you?”

“I-I don’t know.” Taro quietly whispered, before grabbing the back of his head. “Last night, I found this classroom and decided to investigate. But around a few hours into it, I heard footsteps approaching. I turned around to see who it was, but before I could, I got clobbered over the head and passed out. Next thing I know, camera guy, ballerina girl, and trumpet girl are telling me about a ‘murder’ or something.”

_ Must be referring to Tetsu, Chimaki, and Shoken, I guess. Better note this down. _

**[Taro’s Account] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“That’s enough talking, Taro,” Chimaki commented, attending to the bandage. “I don’t want to have another death on our hands.”

“Who is it?” Taro replied. “You fuckers haven’t even told me who’s dead. I can’t really get a hold on the situation if I-”

“Kaiya’s dead, Taro,” Ruka said, with a harsh sadness in her voice. “She was murdered… and we don’t know who killed her.”

“...I see.”

“Well, I guess we now have a prime suspect, don’t we?” Shoken smirked. Everyone in the room looked at her with a questioning look. “How do we know that Taro didn’t just fake the whole thing? He could have used this as a cover-up for killing Kaiya!”

“I doubt it,” I said. “Looking at it, self-inflicted or not, that wound is very much real. I’d bet it would be very difficult to get a wound like that by yourself… and that’s all assuming that he was willing to injure himself in the first place.”

“Plus…” I said, holding up a chair with its back bent and with blood on it, “I think we can all agree that this chair right here is the weapon that Taro was attacked with. The killer snuck up behind him, grabbed the chair, and knocked him out.”

“I don’t exactly buy it…” Shoken grumbled. “...but whatever.” She walked out of the room. “Unless I have to run into you again, I’ll see you all at the trial.”

I looked down at the chair I was holding to prove Taro’s attack. The back of the chair was slightly bent, and there was blood at the bent end as well. The chair was fairly sturdy as well, if the attacker hit harder, then…

**[Bent Chair] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

Further investigations of the room found nothing else worth noting, so before Ruka and I went to the warehouse, we asked Tetsu and Chimaki where Tadakuni, Kioshi, and Heizo were. 

“I think Tadakuni and Kioshi are in their dorms…” Tetsu replied. “With Heizo though, I dunno man, he’s probably off somewhere else.”

_ We could probably confirm Tadakuni’s alibi at the trial,  _ I thought,  _ but if Zenko was lying about his alibi with Kioshi and Heizo, it would be better to hear it from them directly then at the trial. I doubt Zenko killed Kaiya, but I should exercise caution. _

_ After all, this investigation as well as their actions thus far have revealed a very suspicious person indeed… but that’s not the point right now. _

We arrived at the warehouse to find the source of the wool that was hanging Kaiya. But when we arrived, we were greeted by a horrific shriek…

“EEEEEeeeeeeee!” Genjo’s bird, Beaks screeched as it found what I could only assume to be a box of decorative feathers. There was a look of pure terror in the bird’s face as it stared into the box. Genjo, trying to console Beaks, looked directly at us and managed to calm her down. “Ah, Ruka. Josuke. Here to investigate the warehouse, I assume? Beaks and I have located every item in the warehouse, so no need to investigate.”

“That’s nice and all,” I said. “But is there anything made of wool or something similar in the warehouse?” Genjo pondered for a moment, but that’s when a small sheet of paper slid out of his hat. He immediately reacted, but I managed to grab it before he did and started reading.

“Hmmm…”  _ This seems to be some sort of list- canned tomatoes, paper notebooks, dark chocolate, lighter fluid… I remember seeing this all in the warehouse, so it must be an inventory list. Even the box of feathers is here too. But it doesn’t look like there’s anything made of wool, yarn, or even polyester. Not even regular rope… But why was Genjo hiding it in his hat? _

**[Warehouse Inventory List] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“Hey, Genjo?” Ruka commented, looking over the list. “Why would you hide something like this?”

Expecting Genjo to freak out, he actually composed himself and said “I did intend to show it to you, but I realized I could not trust anyone at this moment. Anyone could have killed Kaiya, and while I do want to trust you again, at this point the person that killed her is still alive. Do not think of it personally, it’s just a precautionary measure.”

_ I get what you’re saying, Genjo, but hiding an inventory list of all things? _

“Since you seemed to have found it already, I will tell you now that I found it simply lying around in one of the shelves. I found it while investigating this room for clues on the murder, and it was lying between the tote bags and baking sheets. As for who wrote it and why there… I do not know.”

“So, is there really nothing that we can find in the warehouse?” Ruka whined before I stood in. “Not necessarily.” I said, gesturing toward the school store. “It’s very much possible that the killer got the wool from there. I didn’t see a section for the store on the list, so whatever was used must have come from there.”

Genjo, Ruka, and I began tearing the school store upside down, looking for anything that could resemble any sort of clue. Most of it was muddled by Ruka’s endless complaining about ‘why someone would use the school store if they could be tracked with the purchase history’ or something. But, looking behind the asbestos globes, I found something that was both equally horrifying, but also important.

“Are these… sweaters?” I picked up the sweater off the hanger and inspected it. Sure enough, this was a woolen sweater with the same material and colour as the wool tied around Kaiya’s wrists. 

“Hey, Josuke!” Ruka peeked over me, staring at the sweater I was holding. “Looks like we found our source, huh?”

“Looks like it.” I smiled. “The wool tied around the victim came from one of these sweaters. There is no way to get wool of this type around the school that I am aware of, so we can write this off as the source of the wool.”

**[Wool Sweater] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“Found clue! Found clue!” Beaks shrieked out from beneath the shelves beneath us. Genjo came running and peered underneath the shelf, and pulled out two things. One was Beaks, who he then carefully placed on his shoulder. The other thing was…

“A glass shard?” I asked.

“That was the only thing I found under there, aside from Beaks,” Genjo said. “Not even a bundle of shards, just a single, lonely, piece of broken glass.”

_ But… why would there be a single piece of glass underneath the shelves? Normally there would be multiples of them… and yet… _

**[Glass Shard] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“I guess I’m done here,” I said.  _ I just have a few things left to do… get Kioshi’s, Tadakuni’s, and Heizo’s alibis, and maybe re-investigate the crime scene… just in case. _

As soon as we left, I told them about the alibis and Genjo agreed to help, albeit reluctantly. I would go try and get Kioshi’s alibi, Ruka would go get Heizo’s, and Genjo would get Tadakuni’s. Ruka offered up to get Heizo’s almost immediately, and Genjo said that he had some ‘unfinished business’ with Tadakuni anyway. That left me with Kioshi, the girl so quiet her existence must lower the noise of anyone around her. To be honest, I forgot she even existed for a while. But in the end, we all agreed to resume our own investigations once we got the alibis.

_ Ding dong!  _ I rang Kioshi’s doorbell as hard as I could, hoping to get her attention. She quietly opened up the door and almost slammed it as soon as she saw me.

I tried asking her about Zenko’s alibi, but her first reaction was to give me a note saying ‘You’re not going to kill me, are you?’

I shook my head and said that I just want to ask her questions. She slowly nodded.

“Zenko says that you, him, and Heizo were together all night, can you give me more information on it?” Kioshi was furiously writing something down on her notepad, It read;

_ ‘I left my room at around 1:00 because I was hungry, so I went to go grab a midnight snack. I met up with Zenko there, and we ate his dad’s famous ‘midnight soup’ as he called it. Heizo joined in at around 1:30, and we all went back to our rooms at 1:45. That’s all I can say.’ _

**[Kioshi’s Account] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

As I thanked Kioshi for helping us with the investigation and turned around to leave, I heard a quiet, almost faint whisper coming from her. “You’re… welcome…” she whispered, before slamming her door.

Now that that’s over with, I made my way over to the crime scene for one final investigation. I needed to see the results of Eho’s autopsy and find any clues I didn’t notice the first time around.

As I began climbing up the ladder, I noticed something almost immediately. A small bloodstain, smaller than the radius of a pencil, was on one of the rods of the ladder. It had already dried out, so I decided to note it down just in case.

**[Ladder Bloodstain] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

As soon as I arrived, the only people there were Jackson and Eho.  _ That’s weird, where did Monaca, Zenko, and Mei go? _

“Ah, Josuke!” Eho said to me. “Mei’s not here because… I think she might not be feeling well. She was having to look at her special one’s body, and that can be very emotionally damaging to someone. Zenko and Monaca wanted to investigate elsewhere, so Jackson filled in.”

Jackson just stood there, emotionless and stoic, almost like a statue. But he wasn’t my focus right now. “So,” I asked Eho. “How did the autopsy go?”

“Most of it just confirms what we already know- she was killed with the iron pipe at the back of her head.” Eho began. “But I did find something about the wound itself, it seems like  **Kaiya died instantly.** I couldn’t find anything else, however, that relates to the corpse itself.”

**[Eho’s Autopsy Report] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“However,” Eho continued, “it was not the only thing I found. Take a look at this.” Eho gestured toward near Kaiya’s right hand, and near it, was a message that was so hidden it took all of my eyesight to actually see it.

_ ‘I3W’. _

“I know what this means, Josuke.” Eho sternly replied. “This means that-”

“It’s a fake, Eho,” I said to her. “You said to me now that Kaiya was killed instantly. She would not have the strength to write it, and even then, not have the freedom to move her hand like that.”

“That’s what I meant, Josuke,” Eho replied. “But the thing is, what does ‘I3W’ mean? What could the victim- err, someone else writing it tries to say in it? I don’t know what it means!”

_ Oh, trust me, Eho. I know exactly what this means. It means I can cross another suspect off my list… for now, at least. _

**[I3W] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

“One more thing, Josuke.” Eho ruffled around in her pockets. “I found this crumpled up in one of the victim’s pockets. I suggest you read it, it’s no doubt very important that you do.”

I began reading the mysterious letter, but one thing that caught my eye immediately was the handwriting. It was by no means fancy, but it did have a dignified and neat style. Not only that, but I’m 100 percent sure I’ve seen this handwriting before.

I began reading the note, and the words on the note made my hand tremble in such a way as I read the words on the paper.

_ To Mei Matsuo, _

_ Recently, I found out you and that person found out about the location of the secret exit. Obviously, I know about its location as well, as well as the fact that you two know about it. I only have a simple request. Come to the secret exit at midnight tonight, and we will discuss… negotiations for you and the other one… but they must not come. Otherwise, if someone else comes here instead of you, or if no one shows up at all, I’ll use the exit for myself, leaving you all to perish. _

…

**[Kaiya’s Note] has been added to the Truth Bullets.**

_ Before I could even collect my thoughts about this note, bells began ringing throughout the school. Followed by that nasty, terrifying voice… _

“I hope you all had a good time investigating this murder. I assume that all of you have the correct alibis, evidence, and such for this case, and I assume that the killer is ready to defend themselves to save their own life. The true killing game, everyone, is not in the day-to-day life here at Ikiruyume, but the class trial, where at least one person dies in the end. Will the killer succeed and get away with it? Or will the innocents remain victorious as the killer receives his or her punishment? Anyway, without further ado, please go to the main hall and I will see you there!”

…

_ There was a nasty feeling lingering in the air as one by one, everyone made their way to the main hall.  _ I was the last to arrive, with everyone else already here.

“Hmmm, so it begins.” Heizo hummed to himself. “I wonder what the outcome will be? Will I die among the rest of you and the killer gets away, or will the monster receive their justice?”

“No need for a trial,” Taro said. “We already know who the killer is. It’s obviously you, Heizo.”

“Yeah!” Shoken screamed. “It’s obviously someone as morally braindead as you!”

“Shoken!” Heizo sarcastically screamed. “Your words wound me! Ah, this is the true menace that will lead the true killer to victory!”

“Be quiet, you guys,” Monaca whispered. “Now, everyone, listen. I know that many of you don’t want to do this. I know that everyone here is afraid of death. But in the end, Kaiya didn’t have that luxury. She couldn’t choose whether to fight for her life or lose, and that is an injustice. So, for not just our sakes, but for hers as well, we must go through and win this trial. We cannot let the killer win.”

“Th-Thank you, Monaca!” Mei cried, hugging Monaca. Monaca patted her on the head and shoved her away as  _ he  _ appeared.

“Well now, this seems to be everyone!” Monogousto said. “Now, to the left… no,  _ my left,  _ you will see an elevator. This will take you to the trial room where you will discuss evidence and such and in the end, vote for who you think the killer is! Everyone, please proceed to the elevator!”

Despite a large number of Ultimate Students, we all managed to get on and start descending.

And we kept going…

And going…

And going…

  
  
  


And going…

…

…

…

Until we finally arrived.

The room was like a courtroom, with extravagant navy-blue walls and bloodred carpets. A massive screen displaying Monogousto’s ugly face was plastered on one of the walls, and the stands were filled to the brim with Monobots. In the center were sixteen podiums, fifteen of which had a name engraved for each student. And for the sixteenth one…

...A portrait of Kaiya Fukunaga, the Ultimate Astrophysicist, was at presumably where she would sit, with a giant red X plastered on it. Mei almost looked like she was about to cry when seeing it, but managed to regain her emotional state as she, alongside the rest of us, walked on our podiums.

_ Kaiya Fukunaga… While emotionally cold and seemingly distant sometimes, in the end, she only wanted the true survival of everyone here. She was a listener, someone to talk to in case the killing game was taxing you mentally. Someone that Mei cared about, possibly even romantically.  _

**_And someone killed her._ **

_ That person is… one of us, standing right here in the trial room. _

_ I have pretty good evidence on me, as well as a lot of alibis. It should be a simple case, like many of the others I’ve taken on. _

“It looks like everyone’s seated!” Monogousto said. “Without further ado, let the class trial begin!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the trial begins... What are your predictions for this case? It would be very interesting to know your thoughts and feelings so far!


	11. Part 1 Truth Bullets

Kaiya’s Death Report:  _ The victim is Kaiya Fukunaga, the Ultimate Astrophysicist. The body was discovered in the garbage room, with the victim’s wrists tied to the dividing gate with a rope-like object. The cause of death was a single blow to the head, and aside from a small wound on the victim’s right foot, there are no other injuries or foreign substances used. The time of death is estimated to be between 12:00 to 12:30 AM. _

Bloody Iron Pipe:  _ Near the body, a small iron pipe with blood on one end was found. Assumed to be the murder weapon. _

Examination Summary:  _ The fatal wound is on the back of her head, and the victim’s toenail on her right foot is broken. _

Wool Thread:  _ A wool thread was hanging Kaiya’s body by the wrists. Unknown Origin. _

Secret Exit Motive: _ Found in the garbage room. According to Monogousto, someone tried to use it last night. _

Clean Floor: _ The floors of the crime scene are unnaturally clean as if someone cleaned them up after killing the victim. _

Eho’s Account:  _ Eho was with Tadakuni from the nighttime meeting to 2AM, fixing Tadakuni’s leg wound. _

Zenko’s Account:  _ Zenko hung out with Ruka for an hour, before meeting up with Kioshi and Heizo afterwords. _

Monaca’s Account:  _ Monaca assigned Mei garbage duty the day before the motive was announced. Confirmed by Mei. _

Mei’s Account:  _ Mei says that she did take out the garbage yesterday, but was alone. _

Kaiya’s Dorm Room:  _ The room is in a state of disarray, with a very dirty and dusty floor and notes of all sorts scattered throughout. _

Kaiya’s Journal:  _ The last journal entry details something to do with the motive and Mei. A gift from her now-deceased best friend, Setsuko. _

Taro’s Account:  _ According to Taro, after the meeting, he found the classroom and investigated it for a few hours before being knocked out. Forgets what time he was knocked out. _

Bent Chair:  _ A bent chair in Classroom 1-B. Has blood on it. _

Warehouse Inventory List:  _ A list of all the items in the warehouse. Genjo hid it from the others when he first found it. _

Wool Sweater:  _ A wool sweater in the school store. Costs 10 Goustocoins. _

Glass Shard:  _ A glass shard found underneath a shelf by Beaks. Unknown origin. _

Kioshi’s Account:  _ Met Zenko in dining hall, and Heizo arrived later. _

Ladder Bloodstain:  _ A small amount of dried blood is on the first rod of the ladder in the garbage room. _

Eho’s Autopsy Report:  _ According to the autopsy, Kaiya was killed instantly. _

I3W:  _ A fake message written near one of Kaiya’s hands. It’s rather hard to see. _

Kaiya’s note:  _ A crumpled up note addressed to Mei threatening her to go to the exit. Found in Kaiya’s pocket. _

  
  
  



	12. All Rise!

“Now, since most of you have never been in a trial before, I will explain the rules.” Monogousto smiled, as we got to our podiums. “Basically, you will discuss numerous topics surrounding the murder, such as the evidence at hand, the alibis you have or don’t have, and eventually, the identity of the killer. There is no time limit, however, if it takes a long time and nothing progresses, or you come to a verdict, you will vote for whoever you think the culprit is. If the culprit has the most votes against them, they will be punished by execution. If not, everyone but the killer dies, and the true killer gets to go free.”

“Now, before we begin the trial, does anyone have any questions? I cannot tell a lie, but I can withhold information if I choose to do so.” 

“I have one, actually.” I began, hoping to start some discussion. “I assume you already know who the killer is, so this trial can proceed fairly?”

“I know you’ve been in several real-world trials, Mr. Josuke,” Monogousto replied. “But yes, I do know the killer’s identity, I saw everything go down on the cameras. And no, I will not reveal what actually happened, after all, that’s the whole point of the trial. Also, before anyone asks, the killer is in fact one of you. No outside interference, no suicide, the person that took Kaiya’s life is standing right here in the courtroom.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “Now, let’s start the trial then. We don’t exactly have all the time in the world.”

“Correct,” Monogousto replied. “Of course, for most of you this is your first trial, so I will offer a topic to start with, the murder weapon!”

“The murder weapon?” Jackson grunted. “Well, it’s gotta be that iron pipe laying in front of Kaiya, right?”

“The report did mention that Kaiya died to a blow to the head…” Chimaki said. “It would not be unreasonable to believe that that iron pipe is the murder weapon.”

“Plus” I added. “Eho’s autopsy said that the fatal wound matched the iron pipe. I say with one-hundred percent certainty that the iron pipe is the murder weapon.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Eho replied. “Although most of my autopsy was just confirming what the report said.”

“So we all agree that that iron pipe was the murder weapon,” Heizo spoke, in a gravelly voice. “Interesting, but where do we go from there?”

“We don’t have to go far at all.” Shoken spat out, clutching her trumpet case that she carried around. “We already know who killed her.”

“Elaborate, Shoken,” Genjo replied, pulling down his hat slightly. “If you know who the killer is, I suggest you tell us who.”

“Josuke, Taro, Heizo… it’s one of them!” Shoken spat out once more. “None of them were at yesterday’s meeting, so obviously they’re the most suspicious!”

“Hey, what the hell are you talking about?” Tetsu spoke. “Just because they weren’t at the meeting doesn’t mean anything! Sure, that does make them somewhat suspicious, but not enough to say any of them are the killer!”

“ACTUALLY, YEAH, IT DOES!” Zenko screamed, sending shivers down my spine. “Is it not possible that someone killed Kaiya during the meeting?”

“No, you moron,” Taro commented. “While I wasn’t at the meeting, I would assume that Kaiya was, however. If you’re going to use that as a basis for your argument, then please, find evidence that Kaiya was killed while she was at a meeting surrounded by everyone except the three people you just listed.”

“And it’s not as if she was killed immediately after, as well.” I began, opening the death report I received from Monogousto. “According to the Death Report, Kaiya was killed between 12:00 and 12:30. In other words, a few hours after the meeting.”

“And?” Shoken screamed. “One of you could have been preparing to kill someone, and that’s why you didn’t show up! It’s not like any of you have alibis, anyway!”

“I agree with Shoken,” Monaca added. “I do not wish to distrust anyone, but she does raise a good point. None of you have alibis.”

“No, that’s wrong!” I screamed.

“Huh?” was most of the replies coming from the students. “Sorry, it felt like I had an obligation to do that- anyway, for the most part, the three of us may not have solid alibis, but it can prove that, at the very least, we weren’t planning the murder.”

“Let me explain. Heizo has the most secure alibi out of the three of us. He was with Kioshi and Zenko for most of the night, specifically around midnight. That gives him a somewhat solid alibi. Taro was knocked out for most of the night, plus he was only investigating one of the classrooms. I don’t exactly have a good alibi, but when I was also investigating before I went out for the night Tadakuni spotted me and we talked for a while. I know that Taro and I don’t exactly have sound alibis, but the idea that we were preparing for murder isn’t exactly true.”

“Hang on a minute, why didn’t you show up?” Jackson growled. “Taro and Heizo I get, but you’ve never missed a meeting!”

“Well… that’s…” I stuttered.  _ If I told everyone what I had found out, then… we might go to an incorrect verdict. Even if they are the killer, I want to talk things through first. _

“That’s not important right now,” Chimaki said. “I think we should talk about the circumstances around Kaiya’s murder and narrow down our suspects that way.”

“I agree,” Genjo replied. “Rushing things right now would lead to more than an innocent person being executed. We have to be extremely sure that we get this right. I don’t exactly think we should completely put our trust in Josuke just in case, but right now, we should focus on the  _ what, where, when, why, and how, and eventually, the who. _ ”

_ If I weren’t in the middle of a life-and-death trial, I would call that profound. But right now, we need to discuss this case.  _

“Here’s what we know so far,” Ruka began. “Kaiya was killed in between 12 and 12:30 AM was killed in one hit from an iron pipe, and was tied up to the garbage grate for no reason at all. So… what now?”

“Hang on a minute!” Tadakuni exclaimed. “I just thought of something!” Everyone in the trial room turned to him, waiting for a reply. And not before long, he began speaking.

“What if… Kaiya wasn’t killed in the garbage room?”

_ Huh? That doesn’t make any sense… thought I better listen to what he has to say. _

“So what if the culprit actually killed her somewhere else? They grabbed the iron pipe from the garbage room, killed Kaiya elsewhere, took her body up to the garbage room, tied her up, and left her there! It would explain why there’s no bloodstain!”

“Do you have any proof to back that statement up?” Heizo asked. “After all, an idea only has value if something can back it up. You say there was no bloodstain in the garbage room, but if it’s not there, where is it?

“Well, duh!” Tadakuni replied. “There’s a massive bloodstain in one of the classrooms, right? The one Taro was found in! That bloodstain proves that Kaiya was killed in there, and then brought to the crime scene!”

“And if Kaiya was killed in there,” Tetsu added. “Then that means that Taro is our culprit! He attacked and killed Kaiya, but she fought back! After he was knocked out, Kaiya succumbed to her injures and died!”

_ This may be the worst theory I’ve ever seen. Disproving this should be a piece of cake.  _ “Tetsu. Tadakuni.” I replied. “Just what is swimming in your heads? Let me ask you this, Tetsu. You say Taro was knocked out and afterward, Kaiya died of her injury. But I want to ask you, who carried Kaiya’s body to the garbage room? Obviously, the body didn’t tie itself up.”

I continued. “Plus, I investigated that bloodstain yesterday, before the meeting. I can confirm that it is at least six months old. And since the place was already pretty dirty, I highly doubt that Kaiya was killed in that classroom or anywhere other than the garbage room. And I do have evidence to prove this.”

I showed them the picture of the garbage room floor. Most of the reactions were somewhat confused, and even Tadakuni said “There! No bloodstain! The floor’s totally spotless! Not a drop of blood in sight!”

“You’re right,” I replied. “But let me ask you this… doesn’t this floor seem a little too clean? Not seeing any blood is one thing, but from these pictures, I don’t even see any dust, hair, or anything of the sort. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? The garbage room, of all places, has a perfectly spotless floor?”

“Ah, now I get what you’re saying!” Monaca cheered. “You’re saying that after the killer propped the body up, they cleaned the floor to hide their tracks, right?”

“Exactly,” I replied. “Just because there’s no bloodstain, doesn’t mean someone didn’t die there. And the fact that the murder weapon also came from the crime scene makes it very unlikely that Kaiya wasn’t killed in the garbage room!”

“Hmm?” Genjo replied. “What do you mean by that?”

“Near the entrance of the garbage room is a pile of scrap wood and metal. I remember going up there the first time, I did see a few iron pipes. I don’t think you can get them anywhere else, so the murder weapon came from the garbage room.”

“Oh yeah!” Jackson replied. “I do remember seeing a few of those. So I guess you’re right then, huh?”

“Yup,” I replied. “There is no way Kaiya didn’t die in the gar-”

“Are ya’ testing me?” Tadakuni’s scream pierced my ear like a bullet. “So what if the murder weapon came from the garbage room? So what if the killer cleaned the floors? That doesn’t prove a goddamn thing! It only proves that the killer may have tampered with the crime scene!”

“It’s the only logical explanation!” I refuted. “Why do you not think that?”

“I’m a skeptic, Josuke,” he replied. “But there’s still one problem with that theory!”

“So you say that the killer killed Kaiya in the garbage room…

“And then tied up her body to the grate,

“And then cleaned the floors, to get rid of the bloodstain,

“As well as any possible evidence, like hair or somethin’.

“But there’s a massive problem!

“Why was Kaiya in the garbage room in the first place?

“It doesn’t seem like she was dragged there or somethin’

“And no one told her to go there, anyway!

“Therefore, Kaiya was-

I spoke up. “Wait a minute! Tadakuni, repeat that last line one more time.”

Tadakuni stuttered. “Huh? Oh, the one about being dragged?”

“No, the one after that,” I replied. Tadakuni thought for a moment and said “Oh, the one about no one telling her to go there? Yeah, that! Do you have evidence suggesting otherwise?”

“I do, actually,” I replied, taking out that piece of evidence from my pockets. “I found this in Kaiya’s pockets, while Eho was doing her autopsy. This note specifically says to go to the place with the secret exit at night, and if they didn’t, the author of this note would use it themselves, killing everyone here. The recipient of this note was threatened to go to the garbage room, otherwise, everyone here would be killed.”

“Hold on a minute, Josuke.” Heizo stepped in. “I guess it’s my turn to overturn lies. From the way you are phrasing this letter, instead of saying ‘Kaiya’, you’re saying ‘the recipient’. You’re also using the fact that the note seems like it said ‘the place with the exit’ instead of ‘the garbage room’. Doesn’t this imply that whoever got this note knew where the secret exit was and had someone knew that they knew? I can tell it in your voice, Josuke, you’re not being honest about the contents of this note.”

_ I know I’m not being clear about this note, Heizo.  _ I thought.  _ But if the recipient’s name were to be exposed here in court… we would vote incorrectly. _

“Let me see that,” Heizo said, coming over from his podium and snatching the evidence from my hands. This incurred the wrath of Monogousto, who didn’t take kindly to Heizo's actions.

“Get back on your podium this instant, Heizo!” Monogousto screamed. “I will punish you for this if you don’t get back on!”

“Relax,” Heizo calmly replied, snatching the letter from my hands. “I’ll return to my seat now. The only way this trial could progress is with the contents of this letter truly revealed, and I don’t want Josuke slowing it down.”

After he returned to his podium, Heizo started reading the letter. Looks of surprise dashed across his face, but then a sinister smile appeared from his mouth. He began chuckling, but before any of us could ask him why, he simply said “Now I understand why Josuke’s been hiding this letter… this reveals the identity of the killer!”

“Now,” Heizo continued. “Before I reveal this person, I want to ask Josuke a few questions. To clarify, you found this in Kaiya’s pocket, correct?”

“I found it, actually, but I gave it to Josuke,” Eho replied, while I nodded. “It’s true,” I replied. “Eho found it, not me.”

“Another question, we can assume that whoever wrote this letter is the killer, correct?” I nodded. “We don’t exactly know who it could be, but it is very likely that that is the case,” I answered.

“One more thing,” Heizo added. “Whoever wrote this note had an opportunity to find out not only the location of the exit but also that the recipient knew as well. Is this correct?” I nodded, shaking and sweating.  _ I knew it would come to this. I knew that, at one point,  _ **_they_ ** _ would become the prime suspect. Dammit! Why didn’t I clarify it further? It’s obvious they’re not the culprit, but I have no choice. No matter the hurdles that we have to jump over, at some point this had to happen. _

_ I’m sorry… but this is for your own good.  _ I pointed at that person and said “Heizo, you think this person killed Kaiya, didn’t you?”

“Bingo.” Heizo cheered. “You know as well as I do that they are now the prime suspect, and most certainly the culprit. Ladies and gentlemen…”

I gulped.  _ If during this period of the trial, I mess up my words or if they keep lying… it’s over. I’m so sorry, I know this will be uncomfortable for you, but we need to do this. _

“...it is with great sadness and pleasure that I announce that Mei is the killer!”

  
  
  
  



	13. Sinister Secrets

“What?” Monaca cried out. “Mei killed Kaiya?”

“No way!” Tetsu screamed. “I don’t believe it! She would never- they were so close! Why would Mei kill her?”

“Don’t you understand?” Heizo sneered. “This is a killing game. Friendship, bonds, even romance, they don’t matter here. Anyone can kill anyone. And this note is proof that Mei killed Kaiya.”

Heizo began. “To be quite honest, I suspected you from the start. I never exactly trust people with close bonds, because usually, in the end, they end up betraying each other. But I want to ask you something, Mei.” He took out the note from his hands. “Did you ever receive something like this?”

Mei shook her head, almost on the verge of tears. “No!” she shouted. “I didn’t kill her! Why do you think I did! I didn’t do anything!”

“Well, there’s just one, simple reason for you being the killer,” Heizo said. “This note right here… it’s not addressed to Kaiya at all. This note says, and I quote, ‘To Mei,’.”

“So?” I asked. “That doesn’t mean anything! Just because it’s addressed to Mei doesn’t mean she ever got the letter!”

“Yeah!” Eho said. “She wouldn’t kill her! Why do you think Mei saw it? It was in Kaiya’s pocket!”

“Are you sure about that?” Heizo questioned. “The fact that her name is on this means that even if she’s not the killer, she’s important to this case.”

“I don’t doubt that she’s tied to this somehow,” I questioned. “But what makes you think Kaiya was killed by her?”

“Well, there is another piece of evidence I would like to present,” Heizo smirked. “I’m pretty sure Josuke also found it, so I’ll let him deal with it, but tell me Josuke, does the phrase ‘I3W’ sound familiar?”

I gulped.  _ Did he find that? But- _

“We’re waiting, Josuke.” Heizo taunted. “Tell us, what does that mean?”

“Allow me to show you a picture.” I pressed down on the picture of the message and sent it to everyone’s notepads. “As you can see here, while it is very hard to see, you can see the message ‘I3W’ in blood.”

“Go on…” Heizo said.

“But,” I gulped again.  _ After this, I’m going to need evidence that proves the false validity of this message, but for now,  _ “if you rotate the picture one hundred eighty degrees…”

“OH MY GOD!” Zenko screamed. “This… it says ‘Mei’!”

“You’re right,” Chimaki replied. “Mei, what’s going on?”

“I- didn’t- never- I-” Mei was stuttering her words, almost crying. “I don’t know anything! After the meeting, I was in my room the whole time! I never talked to Kaiya! I didn’t do anything! I’ve never seen that letter! I…”

“Just confess it.” Heizo sternly spoke. “After you received the note, you and Kaiya went up to the garbage room. That’s when you killed her… after she tried to use the exit, of course.”

_ What? _

“I’m pretty sure everyone knows, but just in case,” Heizo began again. “Someone tried to use the exit last night. Courtesy of Monogousto, of course.”

“What?” Monogousto said, confused. “Ah, yes, of course. Shortly after you guys discovered the exit, I told a few others. Heizo was one of them.”

“Thank you, Monogousto,” Heizo answered. “Now, let me ask you all something. Someone tried to use the exit last night. But why did they stop? They had a clear answer to escape and win, and I doubt that if they went this far, their moral conscience took over. But the solution is quite easy…  _ the exit’s user died before they could escape.” _

“Hold on!” Jackson roared. “You’re saying that Kaiya tried to kill us all? That’s-”

“-exactly what happened,” I replied, shaking. Everyone in the room turned to me, Mei most of all. “I disagree with Heizo’s claims about Mei being the killer,” I said. “But there is evidence to prove that Kaiya was the one to have tried to use the exit motive.”

I showed them a more detailed picture of Kaiya’s head wound. “I know it may be disgusting for some of you, but bear with me. There is an important feature about this wound that we have neglected to discuss. It’s the fact that this wound-  _ is on the back of her head.” _

“What?” Mei stuttered. “That… no… she would never-”

“Shut up,” Heizo said. “Suspects don’t get to talk unless asked to. Be quiet, the adults are talking.”

“Hey, fuck you!” Tadakuni said. “Bother her any more and I will introduce my fist to your glasses!”

“I don’t take kindly to threats,” Heizo replied. “But sure. Josuke, it’s very clear you have more evidence than the rest of us, so why don’t you take it from here?”

I shook. “Sure thing, just leave her and the rest of us alone,” I said. “Mei, I want you to testify about everything from the evening meeting up until you found the body.” She quietly nodded, and began her testimony, albeit still stuttering.  _ Mei, I’m going to expose any lies I might find in your testimony. I don’t want to make this trial already worse for you, so please, answer truthfully. _

“I- I attended the meeting after spending all day with Kaiya. We didn’t find anything important, so we just sat through the meeting. Nothing significant happened, and we all went to bed before the nighttime announcement. I woke up before the announcement, and I went to the garbage room… only to find Kaiya dead! I cried, and- and that’s when you showed up.”

“That last part is true,” I said. “As soon as I heard Mei’s scream from the garbage room, I came up to see what had happened. However, Mei, I hate to say this… but that testimony has a few problems.”

“W-What?” Mei trembled.

“Mei. First, about the evening meeting. You say nothing significant happened, but there was one thing that did happen. Tadakuni, according to Eho, you collapsed due to your leg during the meeting, correct?”

“Oh yeah! He did!” Tetsu grinned. “Completely forgot that whole thing happened, should have spoken up, sorry!”

“I would consider that a significant event,” I continued, “but considering that a few people seemed to have forgotten about it, I’ll let it slide, but we should remember that happened. It’s the second point I’m more concerned about.”

“W-What is… it?” Mei answered.

“You said that when you woke up, you went to the garbage room. Why is that? Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to go to the dining hall?”

“I-” Mei stuttered. “I went there be-because-”

“I can explain this one, probably,” Monaca spoke up, and Mei’s face went from sadness to terror, as Monaca began talking. “Monogousto wanted to assign someone to garbage duty, to keep this school clean.”

“No… Please…” Mei started whispering.

“I selected a student at random, and…” 

“Don’t… don’t tell them…”

“Mei was selected to be taking care of the garbage. She even went to take care of it yesterday morning!”

…

A great silence filled the courtroom. At first, most people were trying to figure out why some of us were taking so long to reply. But as one second turned into ten seconds, the sudden realization of what Monaca said came onto us.

“Monaca... “ I started. “Did you realize what you just said?”

“Huh?” Monaca stammered, before a look of surprise filled her face. “Oh, oh my god!”

“I guess in the end,” Heizo began. “Mei here wasn’t just an innocent little kid in this case. Even if Josuke proves her to be innocent, she’s still guilty of one thing- perjury.”

“Huh?” Mei stuttered. “No, what are you saying! I may ha-have forgotten s-some stuff, but I didn’t lie!”

“I would assume no one no one bothered to investigate the garbage room.” Heizo began. “No one else investigated the garbage room, aside from two people- Mei, who was taking out the garbage, and Kaiya, who tagged along for investigation.”

“Which means that Mei, did in fact, find the secret exit.” I stammered. “Alongside with Kaiya. However, they didn’t tell anyone.”

“No, that’s wrong!” Mei screamed. “I didn’t do it! I did go with Kaiya, yeah, but I never found the secret exit! I never saw that note! Why are you accusing me? Josuke, aren’t you supposed to be defending me?”

“I know you aren’t the killer, Mei,” I said, “but my priority is the truth. And I know this might be hard for you to consider, but-”

“I won’t listen!” Mei screeched. “Stop this, please! I didn’t find the exit! All I did was deposit the trash, and then I met up with Kaiya! I didn’t find the exit, so please stop! And even if I did, I never received that note!”

“I’m sorry, Mei,” I tensed. “There is a single piece of evidence that proves that at the very least, you’re hiding something from us.” I pulled out the piece of evidence I knew we were going to have to face-  _ Kaiya’s journal. _

I opened up the book and began to read the last entry aloud. I decided that, in order to make sure Mei isn’t even more emotionally unstable, I would leave out the blurb at the end about her own death. 

“This journal states one thing very clear-” I began. “Kaiya was planning to do something for Mei that a) involved the secret exit motive in some way and b) would most likely have her life in jeopardy. What would that be?”

“It’s simple, really. Kaiya wrote that she doesn’t want to use the exit, but due to what’s going on, she might have to. In the morning, when Mei and Kaiya were dealing with the trash, they must have come across the secret exit motive. Someone here found out and decided to use that as a way to kill someone. At one point, the note was delivered to Mei, and Kaiya found out. That’s when Kaiya went to the garbage room, and…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence as I looked over at Mei, who was face down on her podium, crying.

“Okay! Okay!” she bawled. “You did it. You’re right. Everything Josuke said right now was right. I did find the exit with Kaiya. I did get the note. And I- Kaiya- she-” Mei was choking on her words as she cried more. “She found out about the note and- she- I- I let her die!” At this point, Mei was banging her fists on the podium, so much so that small marks started appearing on it.

“Mei, please cease your emotional activity this instant!” Monogousto bellowed. “I will not punish you, but this class trial must continue!”

Despite Monogousto’s tone of voice, Mei managed to calm down. “I- I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I… I lied to you all. I’ll… be more cooperative.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” Monaca said, trying to console Mei. “It wasn’t your fault. The person truly at fault is the person who killed her.”

“Well,” I added. “Now that you’ve calmed down a bit, Mei, can I ask you a few questions?” Mei nodded and said “I’ll answer anything. Just ask…”

“Okay,” I responded. “When did you get the note?”

“Well,” Mei began. “I guess around when Tadakuni collapsed. It was chaos, with everyone panicking and all that. I found the note near me and picked it up because it had my name on it. I didn’t tell anyone, but I must have panicked and-”

“Kaiya found out,” Genjo replied. “And she decided to go in your place.”

“Yeah,” Mei continued. “I- I tried to stop her, but she insisted. And now…” It looked as though Mei was going to cry again, but she tried to keep her strength. “this all happened.”

“And that’s it?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she responded. “That’s everything. Why, do you think I’m still lying?”

“No, I think at this point, you’re being honest. It’s just…”

“Did you figure something out?” Ruka asked me.

“Oh, nothing,” I responded. “But, there is one more thing I would like to address. You see, the note that Mei got and then gave to Kaiya, I think I’ve seen it before.”

“Ah, so you’re finally confessing your guilt?” Taro added. “I guess you should always suspect the detectives.”

“Hah, finally!” Shoken mocked. “Let’s vote for him!”

“No, it’s not that,” I responded. “What I’m talking about isn’t the note itself,  _ it’s the handwriting.” _

I held out the note for everyone to see. “I can’t help but put my finger on it… I’ve not only seen this specific handwriting but also I saw it within this building. And no, I know this isn’t a forgery, because my job requires me to just know when something is wrong at a moment’s glance. This handwriting was not forged by someone trying to hide their style, but someone writing for real.”

“There are four people we’ve seen the handwriting of- we can count off Mei, Kaiya, and Kioshi. Kioshi commonly communicates with writing, I investigated Kaiya’s room during the investigation and this is nowhere near her handwriting, and while I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, I can assume that Mei’s handwriting when drawing manga isn’t anything like this.”

“Oh yeah!” Tetsu replied. “I’ve seen Mei draw manga a few times, and this handwriting on the note is much more… intricate than hers!”

“That leaves one person then,” I answered. “But before we do, I think we can all agree that whoever wrote this note was intending to kill Mei with it… or what actually happened, killed Kaiya.” Everyone collectively nodded their heads, as well as a few murmurs of ‘yes’, came from the students. I began, knowing that I was going to have to explain a lot in order for this to work.  _ I would have to explain to them that the person who wrote this note… _

_...isn’t the killer.  _

“There is only one person that could have written this note. I know some of you may have issues with who I point to, but in the end, it will be explained.” I pointed at the only person that this handwriting matched with, knowing the implications.

“Ruka Amari, you wrote this note, didn’t you?”

…

“Huh?”

That was all that came out of Ruka’s mouth, as people stared at the two of us in disbelief. A stare of confusion and fear was plastered all over Ruka’s face as if someone died right in front of her. There were a few moments of total silence before the terror spread across the courtroom.

“What the hell? Ruka’s the killer?”

“NO WAY! She murdered Kaiya?”

“Ha, so we finally understand…”

“Calm down!” Ruka shouted at the top of her lungs, before calming herself down. “Josuke,” she began, “why did you just accuse me now?”

“The handwriting on this note…” I said. “Isn’t it uncannily similar to yours?”

“Now that I look at it, yeah!” Tadakuni said. “I should have seen that earlier! Thanks, Josuke!”

“Hold on!” Ruka interrupted. “What do you mean by that? How do you know what my handwriting looks like?”

“Remember the day before the motive day, at the evening meeting.” I began. “When we were planning what to do for nighttime as to ease everyone’s worries, Ruka wrote down a few rules stating that we can’t go out at night unless we have Monaca’s permission.”

“Okay, maybe you’ve seen my handwriting!” Ruka started getting more frustrated. “But it doesn’t prove anything! Your memory could be skewed, and you’re just trying to cover up your tracks! You have no proof!”

“Actually, I might, though,” Tetsu spoke up. “When the whole killing game thing was announced, I took pictures of the whole place so it could be preserved in the history books and all that. And when Ruka wrote down those rules, I took a picture of them just in case. Let me just…”

A picture was sent to all of our notepads. On it was the picture of the rules Ruka had written, and when I compared it to the note Mei got…

“They’re essentially identical.” I sputtered. “Ruka, this is the evidence that you wrote this note, intending to kill Mei. Do you have anything to say?”

“Do I have anything to say?” Ruka sarcastically mocked. “Of course I have something to say! This doesn’t prove anything! Tetsu had the picture, yes? He could have replicated my handwriting!”

“Again, not possible,” I said. “It’s not forged, remember?” Ruka started to panic. “So what?” she sputtered. “Even if I did write it, I still have that alibi with Zenko, yes?” 

“Hold on,” I answered. “Zenko, do you remember what time you were talking with Ruka?”

“WELL NOW,” Zenko replied. “I may not be able to read, but I can read clocks alright! I remember I think it was around 11:30 to 12:30.”

“There we go,” Ruka answered. “The time of death was sometime between 12 and 12:30. In other words, I could not have killed Kaiya, yes?”

“Exactly,” I told her. “You wrote the note, but you did not kill Kaiya. In fact, in my industry, we would call this a failed murder.”

“Huh?”

“You found out that Kaiya and Mei discovered the secret exit, and didn’t tell anyone. You wrote the note, not thinking that someone would recognize your handwriting. But the cherry on top of this shitpile of a murder case is that in the end, you couldn’t go through with it. Because Zenko was already talking to you, and leaving now would make you suspicious in the trial, correct?”

“You must have tried to meet up and kill Mei when the conversation was over.” I continued. “But what you actually found was Kaiya’s dead body. You did not kill Kaiya or Mei, but you sure tried to.”

“Why, you little-!” Ruka said before I interrupted her.

“I’m not hearing any rebuttal, so I would assume everything I just said is true,” I said. To say Ruka looked angry was an understatement- it looked like at any moment, she was about to burst. “Is it, however?” I asked, hoping that I was wrong.  _ I don’t want to accuse you, Ruka. But just rebuttal already! Your anger isn’t exactly helping your case, is it? _

But as it looked like she was about to explode, she calmed down…

...and started clapping slowly.

“Huh.” Ruka began. “Well done, Josuke. I was hoping that when this whole crime occurred, that no one would figure out that technically, I was the one to instigate it, but oh well. I’m caught.”

“What the-” Jackson stuttered. “So Josuke was right! You tried to kill Mei!”

“I don’t understand…” Chimaki said. “You knew of the exit, but why did you want to kill someone instead of using it yourself? Did you really hate Mei that much?”

“Well, I guess I better confess.” Ruka began. “I had one simple reason for killing someone instead of using the exit- to kickstart the killing game. No one had killed in almost three days, so I thought that the exit motive would spice things up, y’know? But then I had the brilliant idea of just killing someone myself, so I could guarantee that the killing game began! Sure, I would probably lose my life, but I wasn’t worried.”

“What?” Shoken stammered. “Are you fucking serious?”

“I am, indeed,” Ruka replied.

“But why?” Mei cried. “Why try to kill me? Don’t you want to stop the killing game, like the rest of us?”

“Well, my friend,” Ruka mockingly began. “I also have a motive for wanting to kickstart the killing game as well.”

“I’m the mastermind.”


	14. The Mastermind's Identity

“What the fuck?” Jackson cried out. 

“You’re… what?” Monaca trembled. “No, you’re lying!”

“It’s very much the truth, Monaca,” Ruka replied, a sinister tone in her voice. “I did not kill Kaiya. However, I did orchestrate this entire killing game, as well as create the exit motive for this reason alone.”

“No, that’s wrong!” Eho screamed. “What about all the time we spent together? Was it all for nothing, Ruka?”

“Oh shut up,” Ruka sneered. “I never intended to make buddy-buddy with anyone here anyway. I just thought that maybe I could keep my disguise for a bit longer before I was caught, but no matter. But I guess my mask has slipped, then?”

“So you are the mastermind behind all this,” I asked. “When Kaiya and Mei found the exit, you must have been watching quite closely. That’s how you intended to ‘start the killing game’, by luring one of them out with the exit as blackmail.”

“That is correct,” Monogousto said. “I was baffled by Ms. Amari’s decision to create something like this, but it seems her plan worked like a charm… almost. And before you ask, Ruka is indeed the creator of this killing game”

“Not something I would need to have clarified,” Ruka continued. “But thank you anyway, Monogousto. I might give you a bit of a raise.”

“Remember who’s in charge of this operation, Ruka.” Monogousto continued. “But we can discuss this later. Right now, there is still one mystery at hand- who took the life of Kaiya Fukunaga.”

“He’s right, you know,” Ruka added. “Even I don’t know who killed her. Whoever did it interfered with my plan, and I want revenge.”

“Ignoring Ruka’s comments,” Taro said. “We do have to find the killer. I think for now we should avoid the topic of the mastermind and their intentions, this trial is not the place for that. Josuke, if you please.”

“Alright, then, but Ruka, you may not be the killer, but trust me that you are not getting away with this,” I said.

“Oh noo,” Ruka sarcastically commented. “You’re so scary! What will I do?”

“Anyway,” I said, ignoring Ruka’s comments. “We’ve established that despite Ruka’s motives and actions, she is not the killer. I think we should-”

“Hold on a minute!” Mei screamed. “Ruka’s lying!”

“What?”

“Ruka, she… she killed Kaiya!”

_ What? _

Mei continued. “Is it not possible that she set up a trap or something that would have killed Kaiya? Why would she just set up this whole murder plan only for Zenko to talk to her and ruin it?”

“WHAT?” Zenko shouted. “Then how do you explain my alibi! Throughout the conversation, she never did anything suspicious!”

“Well,” Mei continued, “It’s either because you weren’t paying attention like the dumbass you are, or you’re working with her! Either way, I’ll never forgive you!”

“Hold on, Mei,” Monaca interjected. “Isn’t that a little-”

“Hey, maybe the little weeb is right!” Shoken said. “Maybe Ruka is the killer after all! Zenko ain’t exactly smart, is he? For fuck’s sake, he can’t even read! And considering he didn’t know she was the mastermind, maybe they’re backing each other up!”

“That’s a very far-fetched idea, Shoken,” Genjo added. “Zenko may not be… the brightest here, but he would never help someone commit a murder.”

“Hang on a minute!” Tetsu added. “Are there even any rules about accomplices anyway?”

“Allow me to answer that question, Tetsu,” Monogousto said. “In a killing game, we have found it… rather difficult to consider what counts as an ‘accomplice’ and how they should be dealt with. So, while accomplices are allowed, only the person that did the act of killing will be considered the killer. It has always been a rule, but it seems as if I did not add it to the regulations. Allow me to fix that, so you remember for next time.” A small *beep* sound emitted from our notepads, signaling that a new regulation was added.

“HEY? Whaddya mean next time!” Zenko shouted. “After this, we’ll find whoever’s controlling you and beat you up! After Ruka gets beaten up, of course!”

“Sheesh,” Ruka commented. “You could at least be subtle about wanting me dead.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Mei shouted. “Ruka’s the killer!”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Tetsu said. “She is the mastermind, right? She could have controlled one of those Monobot thingies and used that to kill Kaiya!”

“I’m all for voting for Ruka right now,” Taro added, who had been silent until now. “Let’s just do it. If she’s the killer, great. If not, then at least she’ll be dead.”

“I still think it’s Mei,” Heizo commented. “Although, everyone is raising such good points about Ruka’s involvement. Personally, as long as it keeps the conversation going to a correct verdict, I don’t mind.”

“But wouldn’t that be too easy?” Chimaki replied. “I don’t think it’s as simple as Ruka killing Kaiya. I don’t think she’s the killer.”

“Dammit,” I muttered. “We’re so split on this opinion, that-”

“ _ Did someone say  _ **_split?_ ** ” Monogousto’s uncomfortable voice rang. Just as he said that each of our podiums lit up one by one and-  _ levitated? _

“Hey, what kind of Dang-it grandpa bullshit!?” Tetsu cried as the podiums rose higher and higher.

“I- I think I’m going to be sick…” Eho tuckered underneath her podium, refusing to look down.

“You really are full of surprises, Monogousto,” Heizo commented as the podiums paused in mid-air. 

“Everyone, please look at your notepads,” Monogousto said, as we all collectively turned them on. On it was a line of text that said “Is Ruka Amari the culprit?” with two boxes saying “Ruka is the culprit!” and “Ruka is not the culprit!” I tapped the one saying she isn’t, and my podium started glowing red. A few others did as well, but some of them glowed blue instead. After each podium lit up, the podiums formed two lines, with both lines facing each other- one for the blue side, and one for the red side. On the blue side, with “Ruka is the culprit” written on top of the row, was Heizo, Mei, Taro, Tadakuni, Tetsu, Shoken, Kioshi, and Eho. On my side was me, Ruka, Zenko, Jackson, Monaca, Genjo, and Chimaki. 

“Here,” Monogousto began, “you will present your side of the argument representing your side in a scrum debate. On Heizo’s side, is the argument that Ruka killed Kaiya. Jouske’s side, however, argues that Ruka did not kill Kaiya. Both sides will present their arguments and debate on the possible correct solution. Now, let the scrum debate begin!”

“There’s no need for all of this bullcrap!” Tetsu screamed. “We already know who did it! It’s Ruka! She murdered Kaiya just to get a trial!”

“But that wouldn’t make sense,” Chimaki added. “If her goal was something as petty as starting the killing game, then either Ruka would win and lose the killing game, or Ruka would lose and get killed.”

“Well, sweetcheeks,” Ruka commented. “Considering that I did plan to do it, all I would have had to do was play the victim and fake my own death or something.”

“WE’RE ON YOUR SIDE!” Zenko shouted. “Don’t make this harder for us!”

“Motive doesn’t matter!” Tadakuni said. “She had to have killed Kaiya! I’m sure of it!”

“But the motive is the only reasoning you have for accusing Ruka,” Monaca replied. “If you say it doesn’t matter, then why are you even accusing her at all?”

“Yeah!” Jackson shouted. “I got a gut feeling that Ruka isn’t the culprit! I think there’s something still off about this…”

“Well, duh, dumbass!” Shoken mocked. “Ruka’s lying about being the killer! Her plan wouldn’t fail to some measly conversation or some shit!”

“But if she were to leave,” I replied, “when the body would be discovered, Zenko would immediately start suspecting Ruka, because of her suddenly leaving the meeting! Ruka would probably know this, which is why she stayed! And if Ruka were doing something suspicious, then why hasn’t Zenko said anything?”

“Is it because he’s… erm… not the most intelligent member of our group?” Eho replied, hoping not to offend Zenko.

“Perhaps,” I replied, “but if Ruka were to do something as jarring as suddenly leaving, Zenko would have told us sooner.”

“You’re forgetting one possibility,” Taro added. “Zenko might be working for Ruka. She knew about the accomplices rule and tricked Zenko into killing Kaiya so she could get away scot-free.”

“WHY YOU!” Zenko shouted. “I’m no murderer! I would never help Ruka! There has to be evidence that says I didn’t help her!”

“Your only alibi is with the main suspect, Zenko,” Eho added. “I don’t want to accuse you, but Taro may be right.”

“Zenko is the culprit?” Heizo commented. “How interesting. I’ll go ahead and say that Taro’s probably right. Zenko is not exactly a man of brains, unlike me.”

“Heizo, kindly shut the fuck up,” Jackson growled. 

“But you can’t refute it?” Heizo said, ignoring Jackson’s comment. “Surely the side that is protecting the mastermind trapping us all here would at least have some evidence that Zenko isn’t the killer… oh wait, you don’t do you?”

“That doesn’t matter,” I said. “Just because you say something doesn’t mean it’s true. Honestly, I would think you would have evidence that proves that Zenko is the killer, but apparently not. That claim that Ruka and Zenko were working together is nothing more than a claim. Unless you can back it up, that accusation is as worthless as a penny.”

“You make a good point, Josuke,” Heizo replied. “But until this debate is over, you can’t truly prove it.”

“This debate is for Ruka’s role in the crime.” I talked back. “It is not about whether or not Zenko was involved. In a way, he actually stopped Ruka from killing Kaiya.”

“But that’s Josuke’s lie, isn’t it?” Mei replied.

“Now,” I began, ignoring Mei’s odd reply. “Considering everything that’s been presented so far- it is unreasonable to believe that Zenko assisted Ruka in the crime. If Zenko was the killer, Ruka would have most likely said something by now. If Ruka was the killer, Zenko would have said something by now. It simply doesn’t make sense to help the true killer, knowing that you might die if you’re too successful. Therefore, as much as I hate to say it, Ruka and Zenko are innocent.”

“That might be so,” Heizo replied. “However, it still doesn’t exactly answer whether Ruka is the culprit.”

“Were you even listening?” I replied. “I just explained how it’s impossible for Ruka to be the killer. Zenko was with her from 11:30 to 12:30, and since the crime happened between midnight and half-past midnight, she couldn’t have killed Kaiya.”

“But… Ruka…!” Mei screamed.

“I know how you feel, Mei.” Monaca replied. “Ruka is not innocent in this crime. But she isn’t the killer. Someone else must be.”

“Well now,” Monogousto replied. “Have we come to a correct answer? Okay then, let me just return these podiums to what they once were!”

The podiums began to return to their normal form, and they all started to float down back to where they once were. I looked at everyone as everyone stared back as I began talking.

“In the end,” I began. “This discussion proved one and one thing only. We still have very little information about the actual culprit. We can only do one thing, and that is to discuss more the circumstances around the murder, not the killer themselves. The only reason we shifted to the culprit’s identity is because Ruka’s trying to throw us off.”

“Hey,” Ruka said. “Thanks for defending me, I guess. Anyway, let’s get on with the trial, shall we?”

Ignoring Ruka’s statement, I moved on. “However, there is still one thing about Zenko’s testimony that I don’t get. I might be wrong, but Zenko, you said that during your time with Ruka, you heard two strange noises, is that correct?”

“YUP!” Zenko screamed. “That’s right! I was just chilling with Ruka, when all of a sudden, I heard a small, umm, clunk sound! Sounded like someone was hitting something against some sort of iron bar! But that’s not all! A few minutes later, I heard a much larger clunk! It sounded like…” Zenko suddenly looked pale, but a few moments later, he shouted “OH MY GOD!”

“Now do you understand, Zenko?” I stated. “Earlier, when we were investigating, you said that the reason you didn’t go check it out was because you thought it was the incinerator. But now you understand what it really was. It was not the sound of an incinerator, it was the _ sound of Kaiya being murdered.” _

“Wait a minute!” Tadakuni interjected. “What about that first one he heard? Surely there’s an explanation for that, too!”

“There is.” I began. “One thing that I noticed right away on the death report was that Kaiya had another wound. Specifically, the big toe on her right foot was broken, and even somewhat bleeding. But since Kaiya was killed from behind, there would have been no reason for the killer to purposefully break her toe. Unless… the killer didn’t break her toe.”

“Huh?” Eho said.

“When I came back to investigate the garbage room again, I noticed a small blotch of blood near the foot of the ladder leading to the garbage room. At first, I wrote it off as a mystery, but it’s perfectly clear- when Kaiya was walking up to the garbage room to meet with Ruka,  _ she stubbed her toe and broke her toenail.  _ The impact from the stub must have made a small sound, which is exactly what Zenko heard.”

“It also explains another problem.” I continued. “It’s very likely that the killer didn’t even know about the plan to kill Mei, to begin with. I know this is very much a stretch, but is it possible Kaiya screamed when she stubbed her toe, alerting the culprit?”

“That’s definitely a stretch.” Heizo commented. “I would assume a small noise would be much quieter then a scream, even if Kaiya was trying to be silent.”

“Actually, hold on!” Zenko said, somehow not screaming like he normally does. “I REMEMBER NOW! Sorry, I forgot to tell you this, but when I first heard that sound, I heard another weird sound too! It was a lot quieter and shorter, almost like a scream, but then they covered their mouths to make sure no one notices!”

“And why didn’t you tell us this before, you brainless musclehead?” Shoken shouted.

“I forgot!”

“Moving on…” I interjected, hoping to stop the argument. “We can all agree that the killer must have heard Kaiya’s scream, and then decided to go and find out what that was all about. Once they saw Kaiya near the exit, they must have panicked and killed her.”

_ I feel it. Every new piece of evidence is one step closer to the killer’s true identity.  _ As I go over every piece of the puzzle we’ve uncovered so far, I begin to realize something.

_ I know who killed Kaiya. It… can only be them, really. _

“Hey, are you okay, Josuke?” Monaca asked me. “You look pale.”

“I want to ask Monogousto something.” I replied. Suddenly, the screen turned back on and his little shitty face looked at me.

“I want to ask about one of the school regulations. Specifically, rule six, about body discovery announcements. I just want to know, is the culprit included in this three?”

“Good question!” Monogousto asked. “It is on a case-by-case basis, but for the purposes of this case, no, the killer was not included as part of these three.”

“Thank you, Monogousto.”

“You’re very much welcome! Why, do you have a suspect in mind?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” I looked at everyone as they stared back.

“You know who killed her?” Mei cried. “Who did it? Who took her away from me?”

“Go on, Josuke.” Heizo sneered. “Tell us who killed Kaiya. Show me and everyone else here who killed Kaiya Fukunaga, the Ultimate Astrophysicist!”

“Interesting statement you have there.” I said, pointing my finger at  _ them.  _

“After all, you killed her, Heizo. You’re the culprit.”

  
  



	15. A Killer’s Rebuttal

As I pointed towards the confused Heizo Kudo, everyone in the room immediately stared at the two of us.  _ I am sure of my conviction.  _ I thought to myself.  _ Heizo killed her. Not only do I have proof, but it would explain a lot of his actions during this trial that simply… don’t make sense. _

“So it’s you, Heizo?” Monaca inquired. “You killed her?”

“HEY!” Zenko shouted. “It’s gotta be him! Josuke is the Ultimate Criminal Investigator! He’d never be wrong about something like this!”

“I think you may be pointing to the wrong person, Josuke,” Heizo replied in his usual sinister tone. “Didn’t we establish earlier in the trial that due to my alibi with Zenko and Ruka that it wasn’t me, you, or that horrible Taro?”

“I think you may be misremembering things, Heizo,” I replied back. “We may have reduced the likelihood of you being the killer, but that chance did not immediately drop to zero. You actually don’t have an alibi at all. The killer killed Kaiya before you met up with them. To be more specific you only have an alibi from 1:30 to 1:45 AM, when the crime took place at least an hour before then!”

“And?” Heizo sneered. “I’m assuming that’s not all the evidence you have against me, Josuke. I simply was hungry, so I went to go grab a bite to eat at the dining hall- my apologies for breaking the nighttime rules, which really is the only thing I’m guilty of- and ran into Zenko and Kioshi making some sort of soup! It was disgusting, so I just grabbed a piece of fruit and left.”

Kioshi nodded, acknowledging that everything he said was correct. 

“So?” Heizo said. “It doesn’t change anything. I may not have an alibi for the murder, but so do a lot of people here. Why me?”

“I was getting to that,” I replied. “What Monogousto just said right now proves at least the possible guilt of three people. I remember that the first people to discover the body-”

“-were myself, Ruka, and Mei,” Heizo replied. “I’m assuming that we are your suspects, but the fact that Ruka has an alibi narrows it down. But why not Mei? We still haven’t cleared her of suspicion, now. There’s still the fact that she also knew of the exit’s location, and the fact that Kaiya would be going there that night.”

“You see, Heizo,” I commented, “it’s that “dying message” that makes me believe you’re the killer. The first thing I would like to point out is that the message is fake. Eho, can you explain why?”

“Wha?” she said. “Oh, right! When I did my autopsy of the body, not only did I find the note and dying message, but I also found something out that I really should have told everyone sooner, and I’m sorry… but Kaiya died instantly.”

“Huh?” Heizo said, in a surprised tone.

“The message was written in blood.” I continued. “But Kaiya died instantly. There was no chance for her to even write the message, therefore, someone else did.”

“And that someone else is the killer, right?” Tadakuni shouted.

“Exactly.” I nodded. “The message was meant to throw us off, to make us believe that Mei was the killer. If we never found out that Kaiya died instantly, we may have never found out something even more terrifying.”

“And that is?” Tetsu followed.

“Eho, let me ask you something else.” I asked. “Did Heizo, or anyone for that matter, come back to investigate the crime scene after I left?”

“Umm,” Eho said. “Well, Jackson came over to cover Zenko’s shift while he went to comfort Mei, and you came back for another investigation, but no, no one else came in.”

“One thing that I noticed immediately about the fake message,” I said, “is that it’s extremely hard to see. It is written in blood, but due to the garbage room’s inadequate lighting and the amount of dust on the bars, it is very hard to see. Eho actually had to point it out to me for me to see it.”

“Your point, Josuke?” Heizo sneered. 

“How the hell did you actually see the message?” I yelled. “After we began investigating, you never came back to the crime scene. I highly doubt anyone that knew about it before the trial would ever tell you!”

“That’s an easy one, Josuke.” Heizo said. “I saw it when we first discovered the body, of course!”

“Impossible!” Mei screamed. “When we first found the body, you were backed up against a wall!”

“And I saw the message.” Heizo replied. “I have perfect eyesight, you see! All it took was one glimpse, and it was imprinted within my memory.”

“Another lie,” I said. “Heizo, why did you tell such an obvious lie?”

“Hmm?”

“I think what Josuke’s trying to say is that your eyesight isn’t actually perfect at all.” Genjo replied. “It’s very obvious as well- because you wear glasses.”

“Don’t tell me he forgot he wears glasses…” Chimaki mumbled. “Weren’t you supposed to be the Ultimate Philosopher or something? I would think that you would be a lot smarter than this.”

“Have any other lies you’d like to tell, Heizo?” Monaca asked him. “Josuke has already shown us what a liar you are. Care to continue?”

“Your wounds wound me, Monaca.” Heizo replied. “So instead of just another testimony for you to pick apart, I’d like to ask everyone in this very courtroom a question.”

“Hey!” Jackson yelled. “We’re the ones asking questions here!”

“Let him speak.” I said. “I’d like to hear what he has to say.”

“Alright then.” Heizo replied. “Now, I just want to ask, you’ve seen through my lies, you’ve thought up ways I could have possibly done it, but there’s one big flaw in your theory that I killed Kaiya. Can you present the evidence that I killed her?”

“Huh?” I stuttered.

“Right now, there is no physical piece of evidence to prove my guilt.” Heizo said. “Nothing conclusive. Nothing malleable. All we have are a bunch of baseless ideas and trivial matters that mean nothing. Why continue this miserable charade, Josuke? Surely what I say isn’t the only thing you have against me?”

I stopped.  _ He’s right.  _ I thought to myself.  _ He’s absolutely right. I have nothing against him that proves his guilt, just a school regulation and a simple lie. I could just ask to vote now- I think everyone would trust me and vote against him… but that’s not who I am. That’s not who I want to be. But what should I do? Should I just stall out and hope that he slips up again? Should I look at this from another angle? Or should I just accuse someone else and- _

_...wait a minute… _

_...another...angle? _

_ Oh my god. I completely forgot. There’s still one more aspect to this case that we have completely ignored! _

“Ugh, let’s just vote for Heizo already,” Tadakuni grumbled. “We already know he killed her!”

“Hold on a minute, everyone!” I said out loud, and everyone turned to me. “I still want to focus on the case more.”

“What?” Mei cried. “But why? Can’t you see we already know who did it? It was Heizo! You even accused him! Are you saying it’s someone else?”

“No, not at all.” I said. “It’s just that… there are still a couple of things that we still haven’t discussed. I’m talking about stuff like why Taro was attacked, or why the body was hanged. I still think Heizo killed her, but if we don’t discuss these, there might be something we completely missed.”

“Heh, I was wondering when we were going to get to that.” Taro commented. 

“Hang on, I think I got a good reason for why the body was hanged!” Tetsu added. “It’s because the killer wanted to hide the fact that Kaiya used the exit!”

“I think there’s a lot more to it then that,” I replied, “but that does seem to be the core idea behind why Hei- er, the killer tied up the victim’s corpse.”

“So, all they did was grab some rope from the warehouse, and then tie the body up.” Jackson said. “Not really anything that needs explainin’.”

“Jackson,” Genjo interrupted. “I hate to tell you this, but there is no rope in the warehouse. I looked up and down the isles of the room, and nothing even resembling a rope was inside.”

“Huh?” Jackson replied. “So what did the killer use? I didn’t really get a good look at what it was because… err… the whole ‘dead body’ thing.”

“Well,” I said, “the killer used a string of wool to tie up the body. Definitely not the most effective way to do it, that’s for sure, but that’s what happened.”

“But where would they get it?” Eho inquired.

“Well, you see,” I said, “there was an item at the school store made of wool that matched the colour and consistency of what was used to tie up the body. Stockpiled in the school store were woolen sweaters, costing about ten coins per sweater.”

“So what you’re saying is that the killer went to the store, bought a sweater, unthreaded it, and used some of it to tie up the body?” Heizo asked. “And is there any proof at all this happened?”

“Shut up, murderer.” Mei spoke sternly.

“To answer your question, Heizo,” I said, “there is evidence that someone, presumably the killer, went to the garbage room last night. Underneath one of the shelves near the sweaters was a singular glass shard. Genjo found it during investigations.”

“And what does it represent… exactly?” Heizo questioned, a feeling of dumbfoundedness spreading throughout his face.

“Near the sweaters is a shelf full of… erm… ‘asbestos-globes’, which are just regular snowglobes, so don’t worry. Anyways, what I think is the case is that when the killer went to grab a sweater, they accidently knocked over a snowglobe, causing it to fall to the ground and shatter. Probably after a long argument from Monogousto, they cleaned it up, but little did they know that they had missed a shard underneath one of the shelves.”

“That makes sense.” Genjo added. “I thought the same thing when I first found it, but the lack of other shards made me confused as to what it was.”

“So the killer did go to the school store!” Monaca added. “Which means that-”

“The killer must have been the one to hang up the body, just like we previously thought.” Taro added. “Now, how does this translate to me almost dying?”

“One thing I would like to point out is how close together the warehouse and the classroom we found Taro in were. I think after the killer bought the sweater, he must have been worried that if there were anyone nearby, they would have heard the sound of the snowglobe shattering. And one of the nearby places where someone could hear-”

“-is the classroom!” Ruka added. “You know, when you were admitted here, I knew you’d either be killed first or blaze through these trials!”

“Shut up, mastermind.” Mei spoke sternly.

“Anyways,” Chimaki continued the conversation. “Taro, did you hear anything while you were investigating?”

“Now that you mention it…” Taro replied. “I’m pretty sure I did hear something similar… but I ignored it.”

“Why didn’t you investigate it?” Monaca asked Taro.

“Thought it was the incinerator.” was Taro’s reply.

_ Do him and Zenko share a braincell or something? _

“Well, obviously the killer must have panicked.” I added. “When they looked around to see if anyone had heard, they must have found Taro. Not wanting to leave behind possibly an important clue, they grabbed a nearby chair and struck Taro in the head, knocking him out. I don’t know whether the killer was trying to kill him or knock the memory of the glass shattering out of his head- but either way, it didn’t work.”

“Well, that pretty much covers everything in this case.” I said. “If we’re going by the idea that the killer is Heizo, then he must have seen Zenko or Kioshi go to the dining hall and decided to stop by for an alibi. It would make a lot of sen-” I was interrupted by a familiar, grating voice.

“Are you still accusing me?” Heizo said. “Sure, we now know more about this case. We even know that the killer tried to silence Taro in case he heard the glass shattering. I’m on board with most of the ideas you presented here, Josuke. Obviously, except for me being the culprit.”

“So you agree that the killer bought the sweater at the school store?” I asked him. Heizo responded with “Of course, I don’t doubt that part for a second. It’s the logical answer, after all.”

“Heizo…” I said, as others have begun to realize what I was implying. “...you have just made your final mistake.”

“Hmm?” Heizo said, not realizing his own undoing.

“Not many people know this,” I began, “but there is a function on the notepads that allows you to view someone’s purchase history. Since we all agree that the killer bought the sweater with their own Goustocoins, and since I doubt that Monogousto would allow theft and robbery from the store, that purchase of the sweater is located in someone’s history.”

“Using someone’s search history to prove them of a crime is a technique used in my line of work.” Monaca smiled. “I can even check someone’s browser history in incognito!”

“Please…” Mei begged. “Never go on my computer. Ever.”

“Moving on…” I said. “Heizo, would you be ever so kind as to show us your purchase history? If you really claim to be innocent, then there would be nothing to worry about, right?”

“Uhh…” Heizo started to stutter and sweat.  _ Are we finally here?  _ I thought to myself.  _ The end of the trial is here… Heizo did it, without a doubt. _

“What’s wrong, Heizo?” Tadakuni mocked. “Afraid of what we might see? Don’t worry, we won’t punish you or anything… that’s Monogousto’s job.”

“There’s no need for him to reply now.” I said. “We now all know the answer to the question of who killed Kaiya. Heizo killed her. Now, shall we end this?”

I prepared myself for my final, closing argument. It’s something I didn’t get to do as a criminal investigator that often, mainly because there will still be a lot of loose ends or I just simply don’t have the time. And then, I began.

“Before we get to the crime itself, the thing that kicked off this entire mess happened the morning of the crime. Monogousto told us about a secret exit located somewhere in the school, which allowed one person to escape unharmed. However, this had a twist: using the exit would result in the death of everyone else still alive, meaning that using it was equivelent to the murder of killing everyone else here. We decided to look for it in case it had any exploits, but two people seemed to have found it. These people were Mei Matsuo, and Kaiya Fukunaga, the victim of this case. They found it while Mei was taking care of the trash, and decided to conceal the existence of the exit so that no one else would use it. However, they didn’t exactly do the best job in doing so, as one person, who already knew of the exit’s location, found out about Mei and the victim knowing about it. And that person was none other than Ruka Amari, the Ultimate TV Star, and the mastermind behind this entire killing game.

“So, late that night, during the evening meeting, Ruka wrote a letter to Mei asking her to come to the garbage room or else be killed. It was delivered most likely when Tadakuni collapsed, as to be so chaotic Mei would not know who wrote the letter. After the meeting, however, everyone split into different directions. Taro was investigating a nearby classroom for clues, Mei and Kaiya were hanging out, and everyone else seemed to go to bed. However, Kaiya found out about the note Mei got, and insisted that she go instead. Despite Mei’s protests, however, Kaiya ended up writing in her journal about it and, at around midnight, began to go to the garbage room. Unfortunately, she had stubbed her toe, which alerted the killer, who must have been already awake. Meanwhile, Zenko was going out to have a snack and ran into Ruka, who was most likely beginning to go and kill Mei. Despite her internal protests, however, Ruka sat through an entire conversation with Zenko, which in turn, caused her to be late and not become the culprit. At the crime scene however, Kaiya must have noticed the killer standing near the exit. Panicking, Kaiya must have tried to use the exit and escape from her killer, but it was too late. The killer, who was about to be killed by the motive, grabbed a nearby iron pipe in retaliation and with one swing, killed Kaiya instantly.

“But this wasn’t the end. The killer, after killing the victim, must have tried to think of numerous ways to cover up their crime. They then thought of altering the body in such a way it would hide a crucial part of the crime- hanging the body by the wrists. They first went down to the warehouse, but failed to find anything that could work. In desperation, they must have looked in the school store, and lo and behold- a sweater that when unthreaded, becomes perfect for tying up a body. But as they went to grab it, they accidentally knocked over a snowglobe, as it shattered as it hit the ground. The killer immediately began to sweep it up and throw it out, but they forgot something- a single piece managed to make it under the shelf, which proved that someone, did in fact, visit the school store that night. Adding it to their purchase history, they grabbed the sweater, but a thought came over them: someone could have heard the large shattering sounds. They found Taro in a classroom, and tried to silence him in order to hide another aspect of the crime. They returned to the crime scene and used the now unthreaded sweater to tie up the body, but that’s not all. They first wrote ‘I3W’ in blood to try and implicate Mei of the crime, and second, they removed all dirt, dust, and blood from the floor in order to hide the crime even more. And to top it all off, the killer even tried to get an alibi by hanging out with Zenko and Kioshi for a while in the dining hall. This is the truth of the case- wouldn’t you agree, Heizo Kudo, the Ultimate Philosopher?”

There was a moment of silence as awkwardness filled the room. Everyone stared at Heizo, just waiting for him to pull out his notepad and display his history, or be voted to his death. And when it felt like it reached the point of complete and total quietness…

..a clapping noise came from the person we were all staring at.

“Well done, Josuke.” Heizo clapped while sighing. “In all honesty, I knew you were a threat from the start. I thought that I would be able to use my insufferable personality and intelligent remarks to fend you off during the trial, but it seems that was a fatal miscalculation.”

“So, you did it?” Mei cried. “You… killed Kaiya?”

“Well, I might as well admit it.” Heizo sighed once again. There was a sudden change in the white-haired boy. His tone felt less antagonistic and dreadful and more calm and relaxed. His posture was no longer intimidating and distrustworthy, but more relaxed and casual. It was almost like a different person altogether. 

“I did it. I killed Kaiya.” Heizo said.

“Then it’s settled then, is it?” I asked.

“Indeed it is.” he replied. “Monogousto, let’s begin the voting time, will you?”

“Alright then!” Monogousto cheered. “Everyone, please turn to your notepads and select someone on the screen to vote for them! You can vote for yourself, but you must vote! No non-voting allowed! I wouldn’t want to have to punish you for that, so get voting!”

As I looked down at my notepad, the faces of the sixteen students here flashed on the screen. I selected Heizo and confirmed my vote, and after a few moments…

“It looks like everyone’s votes are in!” Monogousto cheered. “Let’s see, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen… fifteen? Wow, it looks like everyone voted for the same person, even the person himself! That’s fifteen votes for Heizo Kudo, and zero for everything else! Now, did you choose correctly!”

A drumroll could be heard in the distance as our faces flashed across Monogousto’s screen. The flashing eventually got slower and slower, as it ended on the face of Heizo Kudo, with party sounds blaring everywhere, and a textbox saying “GUILTY” on the bottom of it.

“Ding ding ding!” Monogousto cheered. “You got it right! The culprit that murdered Kaiya Fukunaga, the Ultimate Astrophysicist, is… is… hold on a minute! What’s the meaning of this!”

“Did we… get it wrong?” Mei stuttered.

“No you didn’t… but…” Monogousto also stuttered. “It says here that the killer is Heizo Kudo… but…”

“Are you beginning to understand why I did what I did now, Monogousto?” Heizo said. “Why I gave up so quickly?”

“Why you little- You ruined everything!” Monogousto snapped. “Why do you still have that smirk on your face? You lost the class trial!”

“On the contrary, my little headmaster.” Heizo said. “I’ve won.”

  
  
  



	16. Ultimate Traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, author here. Just want to give you a ‘heads-up’ for this chapter as this one has implied (not explicitly stated) themes that may make people uncomfortable, but for the sake of spoilers I will not reveal what it is. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, I apologize in advance for not warning you. Please, take care of yourself. Anyway, enjoy the conclusion to Part 1.
> 
> Also, I have a question to ask you. Do you listen to music while reading/writing fangans, or just reading/writing in general? For this chapter in particular, I listened to 'It's Raining Somewhere Else' by Toby Fox while writing the first half of it, and I encourage you to do so as well, although any song that is similar could work as well. Enjoy the new chapter!

“What the hell do you mean by ‘I’ve won’?” Jackson screamed. “You just lost the class trial! You’re going to die!”

“You monster…” Mei whispered under her breath. “You kill Kaiya and defile her body, and you  say ‘you’ve won’ ?”

“Heizo!” Monogousto shouted. “What were you thinking? You know that this wasn’t part of the plan!”

_ Plan? _

“Huh?” Taro said. “Monogousto, just now you mentioned a ‘plan’, what the hell do you mean by that?”

“Umm… well…” Monogousto stuttered.

“Out with it.” Taro demanded. “Both of you. What the hell is going on?”

Heizo sadly looked downwards. It looked like he was contemplating something, like what to say about the so-called ‘plan’. In a few moments, he looked back up and smiled.

“I’ll take it from here, okay?” Heizo said. “I think I owe everyone an explanation anyway. About why I did what I did.”

“Huh?” Monaca looked confused. “Didn’t you kill Kaiya because she was about to kill all of us?”

“I suppose that’s part of it…” Heizo contemplated. “Although considering what just happened, I’m pretty sure no one’s thanking me for that.”

“Congrats, you read the room.” Taro scoffed. “That’s probably the biggest accomplishment someone like you will ever do.”

“Hey Taro, come on now!” Heizo joked. “The execution is not till later anyway, so would you not wound me with those words?”

Heizo continued. “Anyway, where do I even begin? There’s a lot to unpack here. So let’s get the obvious out of the way.”

I interrupted him. “The obvious is that you’ve been working for the mastermind. Before the day of the murder, Tadakuni told me something… he said that you were working with the mastermind to create the killing game. And since I saw you two fight… that must be what you told him, right?”

“Bingo.” Heizo replied, smugly looking at everyone. “Before the killing game, before I’d met you all, I was working for Ruka and some others to create this program. Of course, like all good things, this wasn’t originally a killing game. It was-” Heizo was interrupted by a very angry Ruka, who was charging at him full force, knocking him to the ground. She then promptly began to punch and kick him repeatedly, with each blow making a loud sound, sometimes with a cracking sound to go alongside it.

“You- little- bastard-!” Ruka said as she repeatedly hit Heizo. “You- ruined- everything!” Before long, Ruka stopped hitting him, and he got back up on his feet. There were noticeable red marks all over his body, his glasses were broken and there was blood dripping from his mouth. And yet, he looked completely unphased from the beating. “You think that was enough to hurt me?” Heizo mocked. “Oh please. I’ve had much worse things done to me then that measly little beating.”

“Well, while it looks like I should watch what I say,” Heizo continued, “I should be able say what I need to say while I still can.”

“Anyway, while yes, I did work under Ruka once, I left after this thing started getting more… murder-y. Of course, I couldn’t simply leave, as I had to participate in the killing game in order for the plan to succeed. I knew this whole thing wasn’t right- for most of you have no reason to die. Most of us have committed no crime, or done no harm unto others. To put it simply, I loathed the idea of this whole operation. But there was just one problem- no matter what I did, I still had to participate in this cruel game. Do you want to know why?”

“It’s because of my blood.” Heizo continued. “Obviously, to avoid Ruka’s beatings any further, I can’t exactly say what that thing is, but you should be worried if it’s important enough to build an entire game around it. It didn’t matter if I stayed and helped or ran away as far as I could, because of my blood, it always led back here. To Ikiruyume Academy… an academy that became the basis for this cruel death game.``

“I never wanted to live this life, you know? After I got away from  _ him,  _ I could live my own life. I wanted to become a college professor and teach young minds about the wonders of both the human, physical world, and the subconscious, metaphysical world that is our own minds. It’s how I became a philosopher. But when I first met Ruka… that’s where things started to go downhill. I was forced to join this program because of my ‘untapped potential’ or something. At first, it wasn’t bad. It was my only escape from home, and I would go every day after school, and do whatever she wanted me to do. Eventually, some others joined, and that’s when it began… the idea of a killing game to make me essentially a vessel for my potential. I tried to run away. I tried to get away. I even tried boarding a plane illegally, and it almost worked until I fell asleep on my flight and well… wound up here.”

“That’s an impressive backstory you got,” Taro added. “But what does this have to do with you ‘winning’?”

“You see, you poor, uneducated Taro.” Heizo continued. “I was getting to that. I never actually intended on killing anyone, despite what I said to Tadakuni. I acted like a total psychopath, for one reason and one reason alone… so someone would kill me.”

“What?” Monaca yelled. “But you… you…!”

“Unfortunately, this place doesn’t have anything to offer when it comes to suicide.” Heizo said. “So, in return, when I realized where I was, I acted that way so someone could end my life. But I also didn’t want to die- there was still something I needed to do. But if I were to live, then there was still a chance, still a chance that the KPC could succeed.”

“The KPC?” Eho asked. “What’s that?”

“The Killing Program Committee.” Heizo replied. “While technically the branch of another, more powerful company, the KPC always has no more than five members. Of course, Ruka, the person behind Monogousto, and myself are three of those people. For now, the other two will be pushed to the side for a moment. The point is that I had a major dilemma- do I die and ruin the KPC’s plans? Or do I survive and tell the tale of the killing game? It’s when I saw  _ it happen,  _ however, that I realized I had a choice.”

“A choice?” I asked, trying to comprehend what Heizo was saying. “Does this have to do anything with-”

“I saw Ruka give Mei the note.”

“What?” Mei yelled. “But- you weren’t there!”

“I was observing through the entrance.” Heizo replied. “I also knew where the exit was, and I knew that if Ruka was involved, it had to do with it. And that’s the real reason I went up to the garbage room. I heard Kaiya’s scream, alright, but I would have probably ignored it if I never saw that note. I only went up there for one and one reason alone.” He took a deep breath, looked around, and exhaled. 

“I was going to kill Ruka.”

Everyone seemed to be shocked, but then we all looked back at Ruka, who was just standing there, with not even a shred of sudden anger on her face.

“Don’t think you’re special for trying to kill me, Heizo.” Ruka groaned. “You won’t be the first, that’s for sure.”

“Anyway,” Heizo continued. “When I arrived to kill Ruka, I wasn’t greeted by her. Instead, I saw Kaiya, standing near the exit. You all know the rest… but in that moment, after I killed her, that’s when I realized I had a choice. I could either cover the crime scene up to my best effect and get away with it at the trial and live, or accept my fate and be executed. In the end, however I chose neither.”

“What do you mean, Heizo?” Genjo questioned in the corner. “There are only two outcomes to a trial- you win and escape, or lose and die. You can’t simply choose neither.”

“Well, perhaps I worded it wrong.” Heizo replied. “You see, I decided to create evidence that would both implicate me- such as the wool string and alibi with Zenko, but also evidence that would implicate someone else- such as the fake dying message. In the end, I would leave my fate in everyone else’s hands, because no matter what happens, I will win. I couldn’t decide whether to save myself or everyone else, so I just let you guys pick. After all, either way would be a massive blow to the KPC.”

“That explains why you hung the body up.” I said. “I knew something was fishy with that whole thing, but I would never expect that you were purposefully trying to frame yourself with it. Heizo… even now, you continue to confuse me.”

“Why should I feel sorry for someone like you?” Mei screamed, from across the room. “Even before you killed Kaiya, and even if it was to stop Ruka, you still did a bunch of nasty things and said a lot of bad stuff! You’re still a terrible, terrible person, to your very core!”

“Mei,” Tetsu whispered, trying to calm her down.

“I don’t care why you did it!” Mei continued. “You still took her away from me! You’re nothing more than a cold-blooded murderer who’s trying to use his past as a way to look not bad! I don’t care what happens to you!” Mei was choking through her tears, unable to fight against the wave of emotion that had come to her. “I hate you!”

Heizo stood there in silence, not saying a word. It felt like all the noise in the room had suddenly… stopped. It was total eerie silence, until  _ her  _ voice sprung up.

“Ugh, we’ve listened to your monologue for way too long now, Heizo.” Ruka groaned. “But the time for talking is over now. Monogousto, the execution, if you please.”

“Well, before I go, I do have one more thing to say.” Heizo asked, casually as can be.

Ruka sighed. “There’s nothing you can possibly say that either hasn’t been said or would get everyone killed. What could it be?”

“Everyone, please listen to me, regardless of your opinion of me.” Heizo began. “Remember earlier I said that the KPC currently has five members? Myself, Ruka, the person controlling Monogousto, and two others. What I’m saying is those two others… are in this room as I speak. Those two remaining KPC members are spies among your own group.”

…

_... What? _

_ There are spies… among our own group? _

“Enough!” Ruka yelled, before we could even process what we heard. “Heizo, you have gone too far!” She punched him across the face, slamming him into the ground with a large  _ thud.  _ “I knew I was doing something wrong by letting you talk this much!”

Heizo got up from the ground, with a black left eye covering his swollen face. “Well, if it pleases you, Ruka, that’s all I need to say. I know any more would put everything I’m doing at risk. Now, as per the school regulations that have been laid out since day one, the execution, if you please.”

Monogousto began. “Very well. I know that this will hinder our plan for a bit, but Heizo, you know that while you are an important part of our plan, you are not completely essential. We will find someone else as a replacement.”

“I know that.” Heizo sneered, returning back to the Heizo we once knew and hated. “I’m just giving them an opportunity to destroy everything you stand for. I don’t exactly have any trust in them at all, but they’re the only ones that can, so what other choice do I have?” Heizo chuckled.

“Very funny, Mr, Heizo.” Monogousto said, returning to his own identity as well. “Now, I have a very special punishment-”

“But let me tell you this-” Heizo began.

“-for Heizo Kudo, the Ultimate Philosopher-”

“-I’ve won. And in the end-”

“-The execution will now commence-”

“-Everyone, including the others, will kill you all!”

“...Goodbye, Mr. Heizo.”

After Monogousto’s speech, Heizo let out a cackling laugh. It was almost like the world himself bended to his will, and that his death would bring about a new age. The room was silent, except for that cackling laugh.

“A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

**GAME OVER**

**Heizo Kudo has been found guilty.**

**Time for his punishment!**

  
  


The trial room held still, as everyone slowly walked away from Heizo. The curtain behind him slowly opened to reveal a large, metal corridor. Heizo looked behind him and started wandering inside the hall, knowing very well what it is. What he didn’t see was a large, metal chain with a collar on the end that jumped out from within the hallway and it grasped his neck, pulling him farther and farther into the corridor. The curtain closed, and what happened next was the large video screens in the trial room suddenly blacking out, only to reveal the new video that was being played. It looked like some sort of greek palace, with marble walls and large white pillars. There were chairs all around this one podium, and within those chairs were small, little Monobots with togas dressed around them. And in the center of the room, near the large podium, was a very confused and damaged looking Heizo Kudo.

**Execution: Behold, A Man!**

As Heizo looked around more at his new surroundings, a large rumbling sound could be heard near one of the walls. Soon the rumbles became shaking tremors, that knocked nearby vases and Monobots over. Large cracks were forming near a spot on the wall, with small fragments being pushed inwards as whatever was trying to get in slammed harder. Eventually, a hole was broken through the wall, and what came storming out was something I never expected to see- nor Heizo himself expected, either. Hundreds, maybe thousands of featherless chickens stormed the room, destroying Monobots, chairs, the podium, and even pecking at Heizo himself. Eventually, the chickens piled onto him, with blood gushing out from almost every side as the chickens plucked further and further into Heizo’s flesh. Eventually, a singular arm reached out of the pile and shoved away the chickens, as he began to crawl away from it all, blood coming out of every orifice. The pillars started collapsing and the walls themselves began to cave in, as whatever Heizo was in was starting to fall down. Rubble was striking Heizo almost every second as whole chunks of the roof came falling down, and chickens were still attacking Heizo by the dozens, burying their beaks into his already blood-red skin even more. A bright light suddenly appeared on the other side of the room, and when he looked at it, a silhouette of an adult man, around 6’1 in height, stood. Heizo began to crawl even faster towards the light, but before he could do anything, the man suddenly dashed away from the light near towards a failing pillar. The silhouette punched and kicked the pillar towards Heizo as hard as he possibly could, and when Heizo saw him, a look of what can only be described as pure dread took over his face. With one good kick in, the pillar fell down, landing on top of Heizo with a large, cracking sound as blood poured out from all sides.

There were no two ways about what we were seeing. Heizo Kudo, the Ultimate Philosopher, was dead.

…

Screams surfaced from the group of students as Heizo’s execution played on the monitors. Everyone had a look of pure terror, horror, astonishment, fear, despair, or all five at once. Heizo, who just a few minutes ago was laughing like a madman, was killed right in front of our very eyes.

“Ah, haven’t done that in a while!” Monogousto commented. “Feels good to finally execute someone and go all the way! You see this, students? This is what happens if you fail a class trial! Death waits for you if you don’t do a good job here. So keep that in mind, will you?” We had so many questions, about Heizo’s final speech, about the KPC, about the possibility of spies among us… but before we could ask a single question, Monogousto blipped out of the monitor, leaving us in the trial room, all confused and fazed.

“Dammit!” Tetsu spoke. “And just when we were starting to know who he really was…”

“Heizo, he…” Chimaki added. “...I don’t forgive him for what he did to Kaiya. But I do understand his reasoning, and he… didn’t deserve this. At all.”

“As much as I hate him,” Taro continued. “I have to agree. This whole thing… is fucked.”

“He deserved it.”

Everyone was suddenly surprised by that comment. When we looked to see who it was, it was Mei, standing at her podium, crying into the ground. “I hope it hurt.” she continued. “I hope it hurt badly. He- he took her away from me… I’m glad he’s gone.”

“Mei…” Monaca commented, trying to comfort the grief-stricken mangaka. “I… can’t forgive him either. But in the end, he was only trying to…”

“SHUT UP!” Mei screamed, pushing back Monaca, causing her to fall down. “I don’t want to hear your fucking excuses! He killed Kaiya! Why are you saying that you didn’t at least think he got what he deserved! He should have been instead slowly and painfully, in a constant reminder to regret his actions! Don’t make excuses for that shithead! I don’t want to see any of your faces anymore… especially you, Ruka!”

“Now now,” Ruka said, calmly. “What did I do to deserve such harsh words?”

“Don’t play dumb!” Mei screamed once more. “I’ll never forgive Heizo for what he did, but at least he at least got what was coming to him in the end! But you… if it wasn’t for you… Kaiya would have… Kaiya would be... “ Mei was choking on her own words, before collapsing to the ground herself, in a pool of her tears and sweat.

“Kaiya!” Mei screamed. “I… I miss you!” She just laid there, crying her eyes out like there was no tomorrow, and banging her fists against the floor in what could only be described as pure, unfiltered anger.

“She’s right, you know that bitch?” Jackson grumbled. “At least I kinda felt bad for Heizo in the end. But you… you’re a piece of shit, through and through.”

“Ah, this atmosphere seems to be getting pretty bad!” Ruka cheerfully said, waltzing up to the elevator. “Well, I have things to do anyway, so I’ll be leaving. I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess?”

“Preferably, please die in your sleep.” Shoken mumbled. “That way we can get out of this fucking mess.”

I don’t really remember what happened after Ruka left. It was mostly a blur, filled with Mei’s cries of pain and the combined anger of Zenko, Jackson, Shoken, and Taro. Eventually, though, we made our way to the elevator and walked back to our dorms, both physically and emotionally exhausted.

I looked up at the clock.  _ Huh, it’s already 11 PM…  _ I sighed.  _ How long were we investigating and doing the trial?  _

Clutching myself, I collapsed onto my bed, thinking about what had happened.

_ A lot of things happened today, didn’t it? Kaiya was killed, we had a trial, and Heizo was executed. Not exactly the best day I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. _

_ But if there was one good thing that happened today, it’s that we may or may not have a grasp on who’s keeping us here. The KPC… what does that stand for? Why are they doing this? But most importantly… _

_...Heizo mentioned that two of the people here were spies. Who… are they? Can we trust anyone now that suspicion has been cast among us once again? _

_ Heh… in the end, this really was all just a fragile unity. It was nice to believe that we could all trust each other, but now… unless we find out who those two are… we may never get out of here. All we can hope is that they’re on Heizo’s side and are going to defect, but even then… I don’t know. I just don’t know. _

_ I just don’t know.... _

_ I just don’t know.... _

_ \---------------------------------- _

“I just don’t know what he was thinking!” I lashed out at the others. “Not only did he find out about his importance in our plan, but he even killed himself just to slow us down!”

“Well, he must have known from the start, Ruka.” the spy said to me. “You do remember what we did to him before all of this, right?”

“Look, Ruka.” The other spy said to me. “We don’t exactly have the time to be bickering about this. If we’re found out, we might-”

“Don’t worry, [REDACTED]” Monogousto’s voice said. “No one knows about this place. I don’t think they’ll find this anytime soon. But do keep your voice down, Ruka. You might just be giving some night walker a reason to go looking for secrets.”

“As if they aren’t doing that already.” [REDACTED] grumbled. “Ruka, do you have a reason to drag us here? Or are you just wanting someone to lash out at? We get it, the plan’s going off course for a while. Nothing that some adjustments can’t fix.”

“Obviously,” I began. “I wouldn’t do something as silly as that. Now isn’t the time to get reminiscent of the past, you two. We have work to do. Despite everything going wrong, it’s not exactly like the plan is suddenly redundant. It’s a core part of the Killing Program Committee, is it not?”

“So what do we do now, boss?” [REDACTED] spoke up to me. “I’m glad you asked.” I said. “[REDACTED], you will begin preparations on motive type-A73. [REDACTED], you will ready the second floor for exploration. Monogousto will help you.”

“Is that it?” [REDACTED] moaned. 

“Actually, there is one more thing I would like you to see.” I said. I pulled two envelopes with each of the spies’ names on them, and threw them over to the two. As they slowly opened them up, their faces turned to pure terror that was similar to that of when they saw Heizo’s… unfortunate demise. 

“I have reason to believe at least one of you is plotting a betrayal of the KPC.” I sternly said. “Let these photos be reminders of what happens if you decide to defect. Only when the killing game is over will I allow them to be safe, so make your next moves carefully.”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” [REDACTED] went off running alongside the other spy. At that moment, it was just Monogousto and I, looking at each other.

“Don’t you think that that might not have been a good idea?” Monogousto asked me. “I know what you were trying to do, but let me remind you that if you hit the donkey with the stick, there might be a chance the donkey kicks back.”

“So we’ll just wrap up this whole operation before that happens.” I said. “You know as well as I do that sooner or later, we’ll be found by the public. We don’t exactly have the most loose time schedule. If it means having to rush through things, so be it as long as we get what we need in the end.”

“Of course, being in the middle of nowhere helps.” Monogousto added. “It’s odd that the actual location of Ikiruyume Academy is an extremely close-guarded secret, and yet we managed to do all of this.”

“Well, duh.” I groaned. “Obviously it would be easy setting this all up. You are the goddamn headmaster, after all.”

  
  
  
  
**END OF PART 1**

**SURVIVORS: 14**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did everyone enjoy the first part of this fangan? This one in particular took a while to plan, especially having to figure out how Heizo would have noticed Kaiya going up the ladder. Yeah, the whole 'broken toenail' evidence was a bit gimmicky, but overall I really enjoyed writing this case and I hope you enjoyed reading it. What are your theories on what's going to happen next? I'd love to hear them, reading your comments is always enjoyable.  
> I'll see you around for Part 2!
> 
> also Mei best girl


	17. Intermission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Again like the previous chapter, this chapter in particular contains themes of abuse, specifically domestic abuse, so if that makes you uncomfortable, I suggest you procced with caution. This is a rather short chapter (hence the title) and is meant to 'bridge' the two parts together. Hope you enjoy!

_ Where am I? _

I looked around me to try and figure out my surroundings, but all I could see was pure darkness. It felt like at any moment, something was going to jump out at me. It was that kind of pitch-black darkness that throughout my life, I got accustomed to. Trying to figure out where I was exactly, I then remembered the events leading up until now.

“Oh that’s right.” I chuckled. “I’m dead.”

_ That’s right.  _ I thought.  _ I was executed for killing Kaiya. So that must mean that this is some sort of afterlife… or maybe all those atheists were true, and that in the end, it’s nothing but black.  _ I looked down at my hands, hoping that I at least had my body.

_ Yup, still there.  _ I thought. Trying to walk around, all I could hear was the echo of my footsteps as I tried to figure out what this was.

_ The afterlife…  _ I thought.  _ Well, it has to be! There’s no way I would have survived something like that.  _

“Well, before I can go any further,” I said to myself. “There’s something I need to do.”

“Kaiya… I am so sorry.” I said again, hoping on the off-chance that someone would hear it. “If I knew that you were only trying to protect Mei, then things would be different. And yet, due to my own selfishness, due to my own failures as a human being…” I started crying. “I know you can never forgive me. Honestly, I don’t want you to. Because no one should forgive trash like me. How can someone forgive me, Heizo Kudo, a murderer who instead of trying to stop Ruka’s plans, inadvertently started them! God! I am an idiot!”

Trying to reconcile myself, I stood back up and began wondering some more. My thoughts just kept bouncing around my head, like particles in a balloon.  _ You dumbass. Why didn’t you just do as I asked you? It’s so easy! You are supposed to be my salvation, Heizo! Why don’t you just do as you’re told? Do you want to be hit again? Are you asking for it? No? Then why aren’t you doing your goddamn job? _

I then realized what these thoughts were.  _ Dad,  _ I thought.  _ Even in death, I can’t escape your grasp. You never saw me as your son. You only saw me as a tool, an object for your personal desires. When mom died. I… I was scared. I knew that no matter what, you would be the person watching over me. You would be the person who could beat me up as much as you liked, and not even mom would be able to stop you. Child Protection Services would never help no matter how much my mom called. The police would never help no matter how much my mom dialed 911. People look up to you, which is why people think you can do no wrong.  _

_ Fuck you dad, at least in death I, for the first time in my own… existance, have fought back. I know it won’t last forever, but even Josuke and the rest of them will finally be able to defeat you. Once they find the files, you will finally get what you deserve! And your plans would be ruined! But even now, with my own death, your plans are as good as gone! I’ve won! I’VE WON! _

Without even knowing it, I was laughing.

\-----------------

“What the fuck?” [REDACTED] yelled at me, after I told them my plan. “You’re gonna kill someone? Just so you can end the killing game early?”

“I don’t want to do this.” I said. “But after seeing those pictures… they could be in danger. I have to do this, no matter what. Also, could you keep it down? We don’t want anyone to find out about this, especially Ruka.”

“Ok, fine.” [REDACTED] lowered their voice. “But don’t you realize what you’re doing? I know we can’t expose ourselves now, but…”

“Simple.” I said. “I get away with murder, I’ll swoop down and rescue you from execution, and when we get our chance, we expose Ruka and Monogousto’s crimes to the world.”

“There’s gotta be another way.” the spy whispered. “Look. We need to wait. We can’t just act now. We’re already pushing it, and Ruka knows that. Your idea, frankly, is inane. Ruka’s going to know whether you get away with it or not, and then…”

“I know.” I said. “But we need to let go of them. It’s going to be hard, I know. But do you want Ruka and Monogousto to keep doing this? Even if it means sacrificing them, we can’t just stand by and watch as our friends get slaughtered.”

“You do know that if you win…” [REDACTED] began, “it’ll still be a slaughter, right? And don’t say you’ll find a way around it. Saving ten people from certain doom isn’t going to be as easy as flicking a magic wand and wishing for everything to be alright.”

“It’d be better for them to just get it over with instead of what Ruka has planned for them.” I said. “Whatever execution Ruka gives them will never compare to the horrors of if they survive.”

The other spy looked down at their feet, wondering if what I said was right.  _ I know that this isn’t a heroic thing to do at all, but right now, it’s our best shot in making sure this never happens ever again. Please, [REDACTED], agree with me… _

“I’ll do it.” [REDACTED] said. “Don’t worry about dirtying your hands. I know you don’t want to do it, so I’ll do it for you. I’ll kill someone so we can escape and defeat the KPC.”

“Huh?” I stuttered. “Are you sure?”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” [REDACTED] said. “In the… unlikely event that it doesn’t work, I don’t want you to be an accomplice or anything. My plan is perfect, but just in case, I don’t want you involved in it. At all.”

I nodded. “Okay, sure. But at least tell me what you have in mind.”

“Fine then.” [REDACTED] said. “Here’s what I got…”


	18. Where art Thou?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the beginning of Part 2! Can’t wait to hear theories about what will happen!

The sound of Monogousto’s morning announcement pierced my ears as I laid in my bed, so tired that I couldn’t move. What had happened yesterday, I was, no, I still am thinking about it. Kaiya’s death, Ruka’s betrayal, Heizo’s execution, Mei’s outburst, all of those events were playing in my mind over and over again like a video just looping for all eternity, until the battery runs out or the wifi gets cut. 

_ Why?  _ I asked myself.  _ Why did this all have to happen? _

I couldn’t move. It was almost like I was glued to the bed itself, like that was keeping me from pulling myself up and facing everyone else. Like all my energy was seeped away from me during that trial. And from everyone else’s face during it, I could tell that that was the case for everyone else, at least.

_ Dammit, Josuke!  _ I scolded myself.  _ Why are you acting like this? This isn’t the first time you’ve seen a corpse, or hell, seen someone get executed! Was it because… I knew the victim? I knew the killer? I haven’t felt like this since... _

_ I need to get up.  _ I thought to myself.  _ I need to meet with everyone else today. I simply can’t just lie here and sulk like a child. I have a job to do, now that this killing game’s began… _

That’s when it occurred to me.  _ The killing game’s begun. What Heizo did… he may have stopped Ruka’s plan, but inadvertently stopped us from voting her out during the trial, and in a way, allowed her to continue the game. Heizo… what were you thinking? Why did you say that you won? Whether you like it or not, whether you meant to or not, you may have started a domino effect we can never recover from or escape.  _

_ Heizo, just… what were you? Should I hate you for all eternity for killing Kaiya? Or should I try to miss you and commend you for betraying the KPC, and saving us from certain doom? _

_ The KPC.  _ I continued thinking to myself.  _ There are five members. Heizo is dead, Ruka and Monogousto are confirmed, but if what Heizo said was true, then the other two… are among us. Are they our enemies? Are they trying to continue the killing game alongside Ruka? Or are they also going to betray the KPC, like Heizo did? Either way, we should know your identity, so we know who to trust… and not trust. _

“I don’t have enough information to make any assumptions.” I said. “But for now, I think I should try and gather some at the morning meeting… if anyone’s going to come, that is.”

I got changed in a spare set of clothes and washed myself before exiting my dorm room and into the long, dormitory hallway. No one was around, so either they were waiting for me at the dining hall or also in their dorms, trying to sleep away all the pain from the trial. But as I made my way towards the dining hall, I had a thought.

“I need to check something.” I said out loud. “That… place.”

I immediately began walking to the garbage room and carefully and quietly made my way up the ladder. When I arrived, I saw no dead body. However…

“Mei?” I asked. “What are you-” As I was about to finish my sentence, Mei’s head turned toward me as she was lying in front of where Kaiya’s corpse was once mounted. Her face was red and her cheeks were wet with tears, and when she saw me, before I could even say anything, she ran away from me crying, down the ladder.

“Hey, wait!” I cried out. But I knew that she wouldn’t be coming back. 

_ This place…  _ I thought.  _ Why did she come back? She was closer to Kaiya then any of us… so why here? Wouldn’t this place be painful for her? So why?  _ But at that moment, I understood.

Back when Mikasa died and I had to move out, I would often just stand outside the yard just staring through the kitchen window. I never saw it as intrusive, I was just… visiting. I missed her. And while it was just painful to be around that neighbourhood, I couldn’t even leave. It was like I had an obligation, a requirement to just… be there.

“I’m so, so sorry Mei.” I whispered. “Not just for this… but for seeing not just you, but all of you as snotty, stuck-up ultimates who couldn’t even do anything without relying on their talent. But in the end, you’re human, just like me. I’m sorry for never seeing you as that.”

I chuckled.  _ What am I doing, no one’s listening. Why am I even bothering? _

“It’s a shame, really.” a familiar voice called out behind me. “Kaiya had so much going for her as the winner of the game, but I guess even love isn’t strong enough to survive a blow to the head.”

I turned my head around, looking for whoever would make such a remark. There, I saw Ruka, leaning against where the secret exit was, with a smirk on her face as she stared at where Kaiya once was hanged.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I questioned Ruka, anger coursing through my veins. “If you’re here to make a mockery out of someone, then get lost.”

“Oh, not that!” Ruka assured. “Not that at all! I just had some… business to attend to. It’s nothing for you to worry about, at least. Anyway, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me you actually went and checked to see if the body was still here.”

I tried to retort, but the words just couldn’t leave my mouth. “Right on the money, I see.” Ruka commented. “Well, I have preparations I need to help with. See you around!” Before I could do anything, Ruka dashed down the ladder and despite my best efforts, I lost sight of her.

_ That bitch,  _ I thought.  _ What the hell is she planning? _

Trying to compose my thoughts from what just happened, I decided to go to the dining hall and meet up with everyone who was still there.  _ I’m probably late as hell.  _ I thought,  _ Hope that Monaca or anyone else doesn’t yell at me. _

But to my surprise, only one person was in the dining hall. They were just sitting alone, drinking a cup of coffee as they stared off into space, as I didn’t even exist. It was someone I had not expected to see at all in here, and yet no one else seemed to have arrived. 

“Good morning, Josuke,” Taro said as he sipped his coffee. “...although I guess someone like you wouldn’t call this a good morning.”

“Taro?” I stuttered. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m having my breakfast.” he replied, sipping his coffee again. “I’m assuming that’s what you came for as well?”

“No, that’s not it.” I said. “Why are you… here? You never come to morning meetings anyway.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” he said. “But I decided that for my own sake, I should at least come to these once in a while. So don’t think I plan to get all buddy-buddy with everyone else.”

_ No one expects you to do that, Taro.  _ I thought.  _ If anything, trying to become friends with everyone after what happened yesterday would probably get you killed. _

We sat there in silence, as time passed by without anyone coming in through the dining hall doors. The room was quiet, but also tense, as Taro sipped his coffee and I prepared my breakfast.

Trying to strike up a conversation, I asked Taro “So um… how are you doing, Taro? You didn’t seem pretty disturbed when we saw Heizo…”

“...I know what you’re about to say, Josuke.” Taro put down his coffee cup and looked me directly in the eyes. “You probably were going to ask about why we hated each other so much. I’ll tell you this; it’s a story for later. And personally, I wasn’t exactly disturbed by his death, unlike you or anyone else, really. I was surprised at your reaction though, Josuke. You looked shocked, deeply so, but compared to everyone else, you were, how do I put it, calmer?”

“This isn’t my first rodeo with executions of criminals.” I said. “For those I can visit, whenever I close the book on a murder case, I see it to the end. What I mean is that if I can, I attend the execution of the criminal in charge. It’s… not exactly pleasant, and I don’t agree with it at all, but one of my personal philosophies is that I see things through. I want to witness the end of a case, so I can be assured that it may never be brought up again.

“Philosophy, huh?” Taro sighed. “You’re already starting to sound like him. And I’d rather not be reminded of that bastard.”

“Taro,” I asked. “I know you said that it was a story for another time, but I need to know. Why do you hate Heizo so much?”

“You’re pretty damn stubborn, you know that?” Taro grumbled. “Alright, fine. The full story is something that I don’t understand myself, but I need to ask you something.”

“What… is it?” I asked.

“Have you ever read the english play, Romeo and Juliet?”

_ Huh?  _ I thought.  _ What the hell? _

“I’ve heard of it,” I said. “But I’ve never actually read or seen it.”

“Me neither.” Taro replied. “The only reason I asked you was because of something in that story that my friend told me… well it relates a lot to my reasons to hate Heizo.”

“And that is…?”

“In the play, there are two rival families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Both sides want peace, and yet the members of the families, especially the children, hate the other family for so long that peace is never achieved. That’s exactly what I’m trying to get at here.”

“I see,” I replied. “But that doesn’t make sense, you and Heizo’s families are rivals, but yet you mentioned that both sides want peace, so why are you continuing the cycle of hatred?”

“I never said I wanted peace between our families.” Taro replied, in a very grim voice. “It’s not a war or battle, it’s a one-sided beatdown. The Kudo family has been oppressing the Taro family for generations. Of course they would, anyway. All the mothers of that family are lazy, inconsiderate, unfaithful, and greedy. All the fathers of that family hurt their children and only want personal gain. And all the children of that family are demonspawn, only continuing what they got from their parents.”

_ Is this guy fucking with me?  _ I thought.  _ He hates Heizo so much because of his blood relations? _

“It’s hard to believe.” Taro said. “But it’s true. There, that’s the story. Now, if you excuse me, I have a coffee to finish.” Taro yawned, before finishing his coffee and heading into the kitchen to wash the mug. 

Before I could follow him to wash my stuff as well, I heard footsteps from behind me, as Monaca, Jackson, Eho, Shoken, Tadakuni, and Tetsu entered the dining hall, with depressed, sullen looks on each of their faces.

“You’re late.” Taro spoke out loud to the new arrivals. “And you forgot to bring some of the others with you.”

“Taro, what the hell are you doing here?” Tadakuni spat at him. “Don’t tell me you’re only here because Heizo isn’t.”

“Precisely, Tada-kun.” Taro mocked. “And those are some bold words for someone who’s still on a crutch. I could just trip you over, you know.”

“Why, you-!” Tadakuni suddenly lunged at Taro, with the intent to kill in mind. It was only when Eho and Monaca intervened that stopped either one of them from winding up in their dorm rooms.

“This is not what we need right now, you two.” Monaca sternly spoke. “We just came back from a trial that has put us on edge already and all you two want to do is make our situation even worse?”

“And you, Tadakuni especially!” Eho yelled, which startled everyone. “I just fixed up that leg after what happened a couple days ago! Tadakuni, I don’t want to have to fix that leg again, especially not after you tried to essentially commit murder against Taro…”   
  


“I-, erm-” Tadakuni was struggling to find words, before he gave up and sat down at a nearby seat. “Fine, you’re right. It’s just that we’re so on edge after that trial that-”

“Sheesh, you guys.” Tetsu added. “How about we talk about all this after we eat? Arguing like this on an empty stomach isn’t gonna help anything. So how about you all just eat some food, and we can talk about it after.”

“You’re right, Tetsu.” Jackson commented. “Alright, I’ve decided. I’m gonna make pancakes for everyone! You guys alright with that?” Jackson, despite his usually blunt demeanor, was trying to get everyone back in high spirits, but I could tell even he was struggling to stay positive at a time like this.

“Wait,” Eho interjected. “Shouldn’t we wait for the others?”

“It’s almost eight o’ clock.” Taro said, looking at his notepad. “If they wanted to see us all and have breakfast together, they would have done so by now.”

“I don’t want to do this,” Monaca added, “but I think we should let them rest. Even though I had a hard time stomaching getting out of bed today, I can only imagine it’s worse for the others. Chimaki, Zenko, Genjo, Kioshi, and especially Mei- for the time being, we should leave them alone.”

“I agree.” Tetsu added. “It’s probably not good for them to be wandering about if they’re like… that.”

“So am I cooking up the pancakes?” Jackson asked. “Alright then, I’ll make the best goddamn pancakes you’ll ever taste! Let me make… erm, let’s see, six stacks of pancakes coming right up!”

As Jackson ran into the dining hall to begin making his creations, the rest of us just sat there, awkwardly staring at each other when suddenly, a smell emanated from the kitchen.

“Those smell good, Jackson.” Tadakuni said, trying to peer into the kitchen. “Can’t wait!”

“Where’d you learn to cook?” Eho added. “That smells divine, I can’t wait to try your pancakes!”

“My mom taught me everything I know about cooking.” Jackson replied. “Considering I have to travel a lot for games, I often use her recipes to cook meals when I’m out and aboot- er, about.”

“Well, they certainly smell great.” Monaca complemented. “I’ve actually never had pancakes before, I’ve only seen them on TV and in movies.”

“Well, these will be the best dishes you will ever consume!” Jackson replied. “An amazing food for a stunningly beautiful person.”

“Eh…?” Monaca blushed.

“Knock it off, Jackson.” Shoken butted in. “The last thing we want is someone flirtatious as you.”

“Yeah!” Monogousto replied. “Here at Ikiruyume Academy, we pride ourselves in our student’s morals! Besides, if any of you gets pregnant here, I’m not dealing with the results!”

“Calm down, Monogousto!” Jackson grumbled. “I wasn’t planning to- wait, Monogousto? What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Oh,” I groaned. “This better be good.”

“You think you can show your face now after what you did?” Tadakuni said, anger swelling up inside him. “Go away!”

“Ugh, not you again.” Taro mumbled. “Let me guess, you have another motive for us?”

“Oh, not yet,” Monogousto replied. “That’s still being worked on, I have another thing to show you, however, but I’m going to need everyone here.”

“And don’t worry about collecting everyone else on their own, I’ve already done that.” Ruka said, walking through the entrance. With her were the very tired, sad, and angry faces of Genjo, Chimaki, Zenko, Kioshi, and…

“Mei!” Mo

naca called out to her. “Are you… ok?” I looked at Mei’s face. It was like I saw her before; her face was a crimson red due to the tears running down her face, her movements were slow and lethargic, and her eyes had bags under them, signifying that she had not slept at all last night.

“I’ve rounded everyone up!” Ruka laughed. “Shall we get the show on the road?”

“What… what’s going on?” Chimaki yawned, struggling to stay awake. “Ruka was practically pulling us from our beds.”

“It was not pleasant to have been woken up by… her.” Genjo added, with Beaks asleep on his shoulder. “This better be good, Ruka.”

“It is, it is!” Ruka said. “I’ll let Monogousto take it from here, though, I have so much to do and not enough time to do it! Bye for now!” Ruka cheered, as she lept out of the room, carefree as a butterfly.

“Mei, are you alright?” Monaca kneeled down to match her height. Mei slowly nodded her head, not saying a word. “Well, okay then. But if you need someone to talk to, let me know.”

“Are you two done?” Monogousto questioned. “Good, then let me make this quick. I have unlocked the gate to the second floor for you to explore. I know that constantly keeping you on the same floor isn’t exactly a good idea, so I decided that every so often, I’ll open up parts of the school for you!”

_ The… second floor? _

“I suggest you make haste.” Monogousto continued. “There might be something… important there. That is all!” Monogousto disappeared, as we were left there, dazed and confused.

“So uhh… do we explore the second floor now?” Tadakuni questioned.

“Well, duh!” Shoken said, annoyingly. “We can’t exactly leave it hanging there!”

“Then let’s go already.” I suggested. “Those who want to stay behind can stay behind, I’ll take a team up there to explore.”

And with that, most of us left the dining hall and began climbing up the now-unlocked stairs to the second floor.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	19. The Second Floor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! This chapter ended up being a lot longer then usual, so I hope you all enjoy the double-length chapter this time!

When it came to the topic of whether we explore the second floor or not, we came to the conclusion that none of us could agree on anything. In the end, we decided to split into two groups, one would go to the second floor and investigate, and the other would stay behind to take care of the others. Myself, Tadakuni, Shoken, Tetsu, Eho, and Genjo would investigate the second floor. Monaca, Jackson, and Chimaki volunteered to stay behind to take care of the others, specifically Kioshi, Zenko, and especially Mei. Shoken called Jackson out by saying that he just wanted to spend more time with Monaca, with Monaca responding that she didn’t mind. Zenko and Kioshi were almost like lifeless shells, and while it didn’t feel out of place for Kioshi to be quiet, it felt like I was in another dimension to see Zenko so solemn for once. Genjo and Chimaki were handling it a bit better, although we could feel that they weren’t taking it well at all. And Mei… she had it the worst of all. Perhaps not a lifeless husk like Kioshi and Zenko, but it felt like anything we said could trigger a horrifying emotion out of her. 

“Wah…!” Mei cried, failing to contain her tears. “I miss her! I miss Kaiya so much!”

“It’s okay, Mei, it’s okay!” Monaca tried reassuring the young mangaka. “Everything’s going to be okay in the end, so please, try to be strong, for her sake, okay?’

“Are you three going to be alright?” Eho pondered. “I think I should stay behind, just in case you guys need extra help-”

“It’s alright, Eho.” Chimaki said, trying to snap Kioshi out of her trance. “Go with the others. You’ll be fine. If anything bad happens, well you’ve got people behind you.”

“Alright!” Eho said, with a fire burning in her eyes. “Let’s go, everyone!”

We left the dining hall, trying to reassure ourselves that nothing bad will happen. Most tried striking up a conversation with someone else, to try to relieve themselves of the pressure. Others, like myself, walked in silence, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone else as we walked over to the second floor. I didn’t try to talk to anyone for one reason alone;  _ there’s still a lot on my mind right now.  _ I thought.  _ Kaiya, Heizo, Mei, now Taro as well… and of course, Ruka and the KPC. Are there spies really among us? _

As these thoughts continued to bounce around in my head, we arrived at the stairwell leading up to the second floor, near the main hall where we first met Monogousto. The stairs were originally blocked by thick, iron bars, but now it was open to us, like it was never blocked off in the first place. 

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Tadakuni mumbled. “This could be a trap, you know?”

“Would you stop whining?” Shoken groaned. “If you’re really that scared of the second floor, why did you even come here?”

“Well, just to be safe…” Genjo said, holding out Beaks in his hand. “I’ll send Beaks to investigate whether it’s safe or not.” Before any of us could protest, Beaks flew off Genjo’s arm and up the staircase.

“How exactly will that help?” I said. “I know that Beaks is smarter than other birds, but I doubt she could determine whether somewhere is safe or not.”

“Beaks can identify threats such as dangerous looking objects, as well as traps and the like.” Genjo replied, adjusting his hat. “One thing that I have trained her to do is that if there’s danger ahead that Beaks knows about, then she pecks me on my shoulder. One peck is a minor threat, two is a possible serious threat, and three is a fatal threat. Considering that some of my expeditions in the past involved former war sites, she has saved me a few times in the past, such as unarmed landmines or bioweapons.”

“Wow!” Eho looked amazed at Genjo. “She truly is the pinnacle of animal training! I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Ultimate Parrot Master.”

“I… wouldn’t say that.” Genjo looked away. “But thank you, your words flatter me.”

As he said that, Beaks came swooping down and landed on Genjo’s shoulder… and pecked four times.

“What?” Tetsu yelled. “So it’s even more dangerous than fatal?”

“No no.” Genjo sighed. “I forgot to mention one thing. If Beaks pecks me on the shoulder four times, then that means that while there is no threat, we should still take caution. I expected this… even if Monogousto has no traps for us on the second floor, we should be careful regardless.”

“Well, even if there were no pecks,” Tetsu added, “we should still be careful anyway. It’s still Monogousto we’re talking about.”

“Let’s not waste any more time.” Taro looked at us annoyingly. “Standing around here isn’t going to help.”

“Right,” I said. “We should get going.”

And so, the seven of us started to walk up the stairs, most of us trembling as we went. I couldn’t blame them, considering that it possibly could be a trap. However, there might be something that could help us escape up there… and it’s up to us to find it. Unlike when we were walking to the new stairs, when we were ascending the flight of stairs it was complete silence. We don’t know what waits for us on the top of the stairs. It could be dangerous, it could be friendly, or it could be nothing at all; but that sense of danger invaded our minds as we eventually got to the top. And what was waiting for us on the other side was....

“A… pharmacy?” Tadakuni questioned. Right in front of us, aside from a hallway going left with presumably more rooms, was a large, open room with shelves filled with multi-coloured bottles. The sign on the front of the room said ‘IKIRUYUME PHARMACY’ in big, neon red letters. The layout of the entrance didn’t even feel like a pharmacy at all, more like a clothing shop at a modern mall. 

While we initially agreed to split up once we got up, the seven of us were so taken aback that everyone, including myself, just wandered right in. 

Upon closer inspection, most of the bottles were just cold and flu medicine, with some vitamin supplements scattered around throughout. I held one in my hand and as I did, the label looked loose.  _ Man,  _ I thought.  _ Monogousto should keep better care of his medicine if the label falls off like that. _ Nearer to the back of the room were bottles I was more concerned about- things that you would usually find in a pharmacy but still concerning: laxatives, sleep pills,  _ condoms? _

“Jesus, this seems potent as hell.” Shoken murmured, inspecting a bottle of liquid sleeping agent. “Of course Monogousto would give this to us…”

“Although,” Tadakuni continued. “These vitamin supplements seem pretty impressive.  _ A sports player’s best friend?  _ Maybe I should give this to Zenko, maybe that’ll cheer him up… eh, probably not.” Tadakuni put the bottle back on the shelf, looking defeated.

“Uhh, everyone?” Eho mumbled to us, pointing at a small box on the wall. While it had the same aesthetic as the rest of the room, there was a massive WARNING sign imprinted on the front, alongside a picture of a skull and crossbones. “What… is that?”

“If I were to guess,” Taro walked over to the box, “it’s probably poison.”

_ Poison? So that’s why Monogousto unlocked the second floor… to give us new weapons to play with. _

“Might as well check the contents.” Taro continued, gradually opening the box. “If we don’t, not only would we be putting ourselves at risk, but it’s gonna bother us for the rest of the day.” Taro opened the box, and what was inside was nothing we expected at all.

“It’s… empty?” I fumbled out. There were shelves built into the compartment, but no bottles, or even remnants of one. Just an empty storage unit with not even the whiff of poison inside.  _ What the hell, I’m glad there’s no poison, but still...  _

“What?” Tetsu stared into the box. “Where’s the poison? This doesn’t make any sense!”

“It would make any sense if  _ someone  _ did their job!” A familiar voice called from behind us. “Seriously, can’t anyone do anything right around here?”

Monogousto’s screen appeared from behind us, with an angry look on his face. “One job, and you didn’t do it.” He stared at all of us intently. “Fine then! Everyone, please leave the pharmacy immediately! I was hoping to use this, but since  _ someone  _ didn’t do their goddamn job, I’ll just shut it down until it’s ready! So everyone, leave right now!”

“And if we don’t?” Taro mumbled, investigating the room more. “You left this open, not us. It’s your fault. And besides, kicking us out would be in violation of Rule 4, which states, and I quote; ‘With minimal restrictions, you are allowed to explore Ikiruyume as you wish.’. Meaning, we have as much right to explore this room as we do.”

Monogousto paused for a moment, with an annoyed look on his face. “Fine then.” He spoke. “You play fair, Taro. I am a man of the rules, so thank you for reminding me. Feel free to explore this room as much as you wish.” Monogousto disappeared, leaving us looking around in the pharmacy.

“Incompentent little bastard,” Tetsu mumbled. “Can’t even properly prepare the second floor.”

“Well, it’s not like there’s any more investigating to do.” I said. “Sure, we’re definitely going to have to keep an eye on some of these drugs, but as far as I can tell, there’s nothing else in this room worth noting.”

“I, for one,” Shoken grumbled, “want to go explore the rest of the second floor. Let’s just hurry up and go, That robotic piece of shit could change his mind any minute, and I’d rather not die today.”

“I agree with Shoken.” Eho said. “I think we should look in the other rooms, just in case there could be important clues for our escape.”

“Well?” Tadakuni ran out of the pharmacy. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go already!” The seven of us walked out of the room, pondering about what we could use it for, if at all. But as soon as Genjo took the last step out of there…

_ CLANG! _

A large metal door, similar to the one in the main hall, slammed down on the entrance of the pharmacy, locking it away from the rest of us. The sound was so loud that Eho fell over, which knocked Shoken down as well. 

“What the fuck!?” Tadakuni yelled as we tried to register what happened. He then began to bang on the metal doors, trying to get them open. “Dammit, what the hell?”

“Well,” Genjo added. “That is unfortunate. I did see supplements that would help Beaks with her training and nutrition.”

“I knew he would pull something like this.” Taro stared at the monitor descending from the ceiling. “He wanted us out of there, but knew that by using execution as a leverage, he’d be violating the school regulations.”

“Taro is correct.” Monogousto painful voice emitted out of the monitor. “I value the rules and regulations above anything else, even the motives for this killing game’s existence. Heizo was important to the plan, but to make sure the regulations are non-negotiable no matter what, I had to execute him.”

“So he was a part of your plan after all.” I stared at him. “Although, I’m surprised that you’re confirming it yourself. Wouldn’t someone like you try to brush it off?”

“Since he has told everyone before his death,” Monogousto continued, “I see no reason to hide it. However, I will not elaborate on why he was important. Remember the eighth rule: I am not allowed to lie, but I am allowed to stay silent or not answer.”

“What does that matter?” Tadakuni grumbled. “You made the rules anyway! You could probably just lie to us any we would never know!”

“You know, Tadakuni,” Monogousto inched closer to his face. “I thought that out of everyone here, you would be the one to realize the importance of the regulations. You almost paid the price for violating them, after all.”

Everyone shuddered. Flashbacks of when Tadakuni first attacked Monogousto flooded our minds.  _ The screams, the gunshots, the blood… we all thought for sure that Tadakuni was dead. He didn’t die, but his leg was broken in the process. Something that he’s still recovering from, both physically and mentally… _

“Well, I have things to do,” Mongousto raised himself to the ceiling. “Happy investigating!”

We just stood there in silence, not knowing what to do afterwards. That silence was broken by none other than him.

“Dammit!” Tadakuni punched the wall, looking at the ground. “Why’d he have to go there… I swear, one day I’m gonna kill him.”

“Murderous tendencies aside,” Eho interjected, “we should really explore the rest of the floor. I don’t think it’s a good idea to just stand here.”

“Eho’s right.” I said, looking around the second floor. “Let’s see… it looks like we got a classroom, a dojo, and… a tool shed? It looks like there’s also a barrier leading up to the third floor as well. Alright then, let’s split up and start looking around.”

Everyone began to start investigating each of the rooms. Shoken and Genjo went to the dojo, Tetsu and Tadakuni went to the tool shed, which left Taro, Eho, and myself to investigate the classroom. I opened the door to the classroom and without hesitation, began looking around.

“Most of the desks are empty.” Taro reached his hand into his seventeenth desk. “Wait- nevermind, I found a piece of stale gum stuck to the underside. So not completely empty.”

“There’s gotta be something around here,” I mumbled to myself.  _ The other classroom had a bloodstain and weird note, can’t there be anything relevant here? _

“No luck here either.” Eho sighed from the other corner of the classroom. “This could just be a normal classroom. There were two classrooms downstairs, weren’t there? One of them had nothing in it at all! What I’m saying is… this place probably doesn’t have what we’re looking for.”

“Eho’s right, Josuke.” Taro agreed, reaching his hand into another desk. “We’ve found absolutely nothing that explains why we’re here, or how to escape, or- huh?” Taro suddenly looked confused as he peered into the desk. “Hang on a minute, guys.”

“What is it, Taro?” Eho asked, running over to the desk.

“I don’t know.” Taro reached in once more and began pulling on whatever was in there. After some time, what Taro pulled out was…

“Is… is that a CD player?”

There was no mistaking it. The radio-like design, the two speakers, the port for the CDs themselves, this was a music player.

“But… why is a music player here?” Eho pondered, inspecting the device. “It looks like it has power, and in mint condition too, so why was that there? Did the desk belong to an Ultimate Musician of some kind?”

“Wait, hold on…” Taro inspected the bottom of the player. I looked too, and on it was a piece of paper taped to the device saying ‘A gift for those who find it! I have hid the second part of the second floor somewhere.. -Monogousto’

“Of course it was him.” I sighed. “I have no idea why he would provide us something like this. It’s not like it’s gonna help or anything.”

“He did mention a ‘second part’ though,” Taro replied, “so maybe it’s a CD?”

“Well, maybe someone already found it.” I said, opening the door outside. “I’m gonna check on the others, I just want to make sure no one’s dead.” I chuckled a bit, but from the looks on Taro and Eho’s faces I could tell that that might have not been the best thing to say. “Sorry.” I said, closing the door behind me.

My first stop was the dojo- no particular reason why, it’s just that it’s closer to the classroom then the tool shed. I slid open the door to reveal a very bright room; the walls and floor were made of a light pine wood, and in the back of the room was a small garden, filled with small trees so dense I couldn’t see the other side. Nearby was a large training dummy, with multiple cuts on it to show its use. The right side of the room was filled with lockers, one of which was wide open, with Genjo and Shoken peering inside.

“Ah, hello Josuke!” Genjo smiled as he looked over to me. Beaks squawked and flew over to me, guiding me towards the locker Shoken was investigating.

“Weren’t you supposed to be with Eho and Taro in the classroom?” Shoken grumbled looking through the locker.

“We’re pretty much finished in there, so I just came to check on everyone.” I said, peering into the locker. “What’d you find?”

In the locker was simply a bow and some arrows. “Makes sense, I guess.” I said, picking up the bow. “Though I’m not sure how we’re supposed to use this, considering there’s no… dammit.” I realized why there were bows and arrows but no targets. “Monogousto’s just giving us new weapons to use.”

“Congratulations, smartass, for figuring that out.” Shoken grumbled, inspecting the locker. “We also found some massive katanas in the lockers too. Doubt they’d kill anyone since they’re made of bamboo, but still…”

“I am relieved that we do not have an Ultimate Swordsman among our group.” Genjo looked at the arrows. “At least, not one who also intends to kill. I heard that a skilled one can even kill with a bamboo sword.”

“Same here,” I said, picking up the arrows. “I remember working on a serial murder case where the killer killed criminals with a bamboo sword. It was known as the Sparkling Justice case, but in the end I did catch the man behind it. Turns out he was actually a master swordsman.”

I inspected the arrows much further.  _ From what I can tell, this is made of a special type of wood where the wood is pretty much the strongest you’ll ever find. Pretty much unbreakable.  _

“Hey,” Shoken grumbled, trying to snap the arrow in half, “this thing’s pretty tough.”

“Perhaps we should break the bow instead?” Genjo recommended. “It doesn’t seem to be as tough as the arrows, and it would save a lot of time. Granted, the arrows might still pose a threat, but I don’t think that they will pose a massive problem.”

“Sounds good to me.” I took the bow from the locker and used all my might to snap it in half. It took some work, but eventually…

_ SNAP! _

“There we go.” I said, throwing the broken bow towards the small garden. “I’m gonna go check on Tadakuni and Tetsu in the tool shed, so I’ll see you later.”

“Take care, Josuke.” Genjo said, with his bird squawking at me as well. I left the dojo and made my way towards the tool shed, but when I did…

_ Clatter clatter… _

“It’s… locked?” I questioned. “But where did Tadakuni and Tetsu go?” I tried opening the door some more, but to no avail. “What the hell…”

Suddenly, the doorknob began to rattle and the door opened up to reveal Tetsu, looking very tired and covered in sawdust. “Please… save me… Tadakuni… he…” Tetsu looked on the verge of collapse.

“What’s the matter, Tetsu?” Tadakuni yelled from inside the room. “Get back here, we sure as hell ain’t finished!”

“Help me Josuke!” Tetsu screamed. “Save me!”

I walked into the room, thinking that Tadakuni might have…  _ no, he wouldn’t. If he did, he would have no alibi anyway. So what is Tetsu talking about? _

My questions were answered as I peered around the tool shed. The room smelled of sawdust and sweat, with my eyes almost being blinded from the amount there was inside. Every wall was lined with construction tools of every kind- hammers, screwdrivers, power drills, and there were also power tools such as power saws, scroll saws, table saws, even a belt sander. And in the middle of all of that was Tadakuni, laughing as I saw him sitting in a chair that without a doubt, looked to have been made by him.

“Hey! Josuke!” Tadakuni laughed. “This place is awesome! So many tools, so much wood, so much time for activities!

“Okay, that’s cool and all,” I said, coughing away the sawdust entering my lungs, “did you find anything that could help us escape? Did you find any clues about the mastermind?”

“Nah,” Tadakuni got up, “but who cares? I’ve got no reason to murder now! I’ve got everything I need to keep myself entertained right here!”

_ Tadakuni, you really are simple-minded. I thought that you had changed ever since… that, but I guess my first impressions were right. You really are self centered. _

“Actually,” Tadakuni said, pulling something from his pocket. “I found something resting in the groove of the table saw.” He pulled out a case containing a CD with the words ‘Kinji Audio’ on it. It also had ‘With love, Monogousto’ on the case.

“Tadakuni,” I said, snatching the CD from him. “Do you know what this is?”

“A CD?” Tadakuni said. “I’m not dumb, you know.”

_ Oh really now? _

“Eho, Taro and I found a CD player in the classroom.” I said. “Did you find anything else?”

“No, I didn’t, that’s all.” Tadakuni said, putting his chair away in a corner. “However, there is something about this room you have to know, ok?”

“Huh? What is it?”

Tadakuni pulled out a small key from his pocket. “Tetsu and I were concerned about all the power tools here, so he decided to give a key to me so only I can use it. That’s probably why it was locked and you couldn’t get in.”

“So Monogousto gave this to you?” I inspected the key. “But I didn’t see a keyhole.”

“Well, you actually just scan it against the doorknob. Pretty inconvenient, but still, I hate using keys anyway. So I guess this is a win for me!”

_ Well, let’s just hope that you don’t turn into a bloodthirsty murderer. _

“Hey guys, we should get going!” Tetsu yelled from across the room. “Let’s go!”

One by one, we all began to start piling up back in the dining hall downstairs. When we arrived, Monaca, Jackson, and Chimaki looked tired as all hell. Kioshi looked a bit more lively then normal, and Zenko…

“MY FRIENDS! YOU’RE BACK!” Zenko exclaimed as loudly as possible. “Did you find anything of use?”

The seven of us explained what we found, the four rooms, and what went on with the pharmacy. We explained that Monogousto did in fact, confirm that Heizo was important to the plan in some way.

“I see.” Chimaki replied. “You guys were busy.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I said, looking around the room, when something came to me. “Guys… where’s Mei?”

“Oh, Mei?” Monaca questioned. “Oh, when we were trying to calm her down, she suddenly stormed off to her dorm room. We tried talking to her, but she wouldn’t speak, let alone open the door.”

“Do you think she’s alright?” Eho questioned. “It might not be a good idea to leave someone like that alone in their current emotional state.”

“Well, there is one thing we found worth mentioning.” I said. “Taro? Tadakuni? The CD stuff, please.” The two of them laid down the two objects on the table, and we began discussing them.

“We found these upstairs.” I said. “I was unsure of what to make of the CD player, but with this…” I held up the CD and placed it inside. “We might be getting closer to the truth.”

“But those were apparently gifts from Monogousto.” Genjo said. “How can we trust that this isn’t another motive? Or even a false piece of evidence?”

“We won’t know until we try.” I said, pushing the play button. “Everyone, we don’t know what this might be. So please, stay calm.”

And the CD began to play…

_ The CD started with the sounds of rustling chains, as if someone was slowly being pulled somewhere. Alongside those noises were the grunts of… someone. A man, in his late 30’s, I believe.  _

_ Suddenly, the chains stopped, in the background, mechanical whirrs and sounds of electric shock began. Then, a voice emanated from the CD. _

_ “Kinji,” the voice began, sounding menacing and even horrifying. “You have betrayed our organization. You have begun something retched, something terrifying, and yet all you do is sit around, doing nothing. I’m almost impressed, you’re a stain on the family name despite doing absolutely nothing. Except, for one thing, of course. You began the corruption. If it wasn’t for you, then we would be in grandeur together, you and I. But no. You betrayed us instead. _

_ The grunts became louder and louder, and before long, the mysterious man said. “Guard. Take the clamp off his mouth. Let him speak.” _

_ There was a moment of silence, before the man yelled. “You’re a monster! How could you do such a horrible thing? I began the quote-on-quote ‘corruption’ because I want to end the suffering of these people. I want to free them. I don’t care what you do to me. You cannot stop my influence.” _

_ “But I can, Kinji.” the mysterious man continued. “Guard, put the clamp back on him. It’s time to execute this lump of matter. Ruka, dear, kill this man.” _

_ “If you wish!” The very familiar, and very terrifying voice from Ruka Amari spoke through the player’s speakers. It was silence, but then we heard the silent screams of Kinji, as we heard bones being crushed, one by one, by some sort of… machine. The splatter of blood, though quiet, could be heard as more bones were crushed. Then… it was total and complete silence. _

_ “Excellent work, Ruka.” the man said. “He is right about one thing… stopping the corruption will be no easy task. I want you to interrogate them, and once you do, make them part of the new program.” _

_ “Yes sir!” Ruka exclaimed with joy. Footsteps could be heard, indicating that she has left. _

_ … _

_ … _

_ And the CD ended there. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is Kinji? What is the CD's purpose? Should I do more of these end notes? Find out next time on Danganronpa: Reaping Soul, in Chapter 20, [SPOILER TITLE].


	20. Stages of Grief

…

…

“What the fuck was that?” Jackson yelled, staring at us with intense confusion. “Who the fuck is Kinji? And what happened?”

“Ugh…” Tetsu groaned. “That’s… horrible!”

“Guys, please calm down!” Monaca tried overpowering over everyone, who was in total shock of what played. “Let’s all calmly discuss this! Maybe this is fake! That’s got to be it!”

“I assure you, Monaca, it is not fake.” A familiar voice stepped into the dining hall, with a sinister smile and dark eyes. “I did kill Kinji myself. He had to die.”

“What do you want, Ruka?” Taro questioned. “Are you here simply to make our situation more confusing?”

“Depends on how you perceive it, really!” Ruka giggled. “But I will tell you only this…  _ the contents on that CD are 100 percent real.  _ And you can count on that.”

“The contents… are real?” Shoken questioned. “No fucking way. You’re just lying to us! The only reason you and Mono-fuck-to gave us this is so we can shit ourselves into playing this game!”

“Not exactly, little Shoken.” Ruka patted the top of Shoken’s head like a dog. “I just want to let a certain number of people know that this is what happens when you defect.”

“OI!” Zenko yelled. “I don’t like what you’re saying, and I don’t like how ya’ sayin’ it either!” He ran up to Ruka at full speed with his right hand in a fist, readying to punch Ruka to the ground. But in an instant…

A loud  _ smack  _ was heard, and Zenko fell to the ground with Ruka looking above him. “Don’t even try, Zenko.” Ruka smirked. “You may be the Ultimate Wrestler, but I am what’s considered a perfect human. Perfect looks, personality, physical strength… so don’t even try.”

Eho ran over to the fallen wrestler, trying to hold him up. “Are you okay? Do you need help?” she asked, while helping him up. 

“It’s okay, I’m alright.” Zenko sputtered out, lacking his usual boldness. “She didn’t hit me… that hard.”

“You’re not even close to a perfect human, Ruka.” I said, staring her in the face. “Perfect humans don’t create horrible death games and force others to play. And even before you revealed yourself, I thought you were one of the most annoying people I’ve ever met.”

“Your words wound me, Josuke!” Ruka sarcastically waltzed out of the dining hall. “Well, I just came to stop by to see how you were all doing, with that CD and all. Well, I have things to do and motives to make! See you later!”

Before we could even respond, Ruka pranced out of the dining hall, leaving us dazed and confused.

“So umm…” Tetsu mumbled. “What exactly do we do now?”

Before anyone had an answer, loud, big-band-esque music blared from the speakers signifying the nighttime announcement.

“The time is now 10PM, which is the start of nighttime! Sweet dreams, everyone!” Monogousto’s loathsome voice blared alongside the terrible music. 

“Well, I am pretty tired,” Tadakuni staggered away to his dorm. “I’m gonna hit the hay. Anyone else?”

“I will too.” Chimaki followed Tadakuni to the dorms, and so did most of the others. When I went to go get some sleep as well, I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

“Hang on a minute.” Monaca demanded, as she grabbed my shoulder even more. “Can we talk for a moment?”

I turned to face her. “What is it?” I asked, hoping to just answer and leave to get some sleep. “Can you make it quick though?”

“Ummm…” Monaca stammered, before coming to a realization and staring me square in the face. “When all of you were investigating the second floor, and I was taking care of Mei, when I mentioned what you had to do, she ran off to her dorm. I’ve been trying to get her to open up- both literally and emotionally- but she doesn’t want to talk to anyone, so-”

“Let me guess.” I walked out to the dorms. “You want me to talk to Mei and comfort her about what happened yesterday. But why me? I’m sure someone like Eho or Genjo would do a better job… so why me?”

“I don’t think she needs either of them right now.” Monaca said. “They might have some sort of baggage, but I know that you’re still not over your sister’s death. I don’t want you to ‘calm her down,’ I want you to tell her that she’s not alone in this, and that no matter what, we can fight this.”

“So you want me to calm her down.” I walked away. “I’ll try, but if she doesn’t answer…”

“At least try, Josuke.” Monaca waved as I left. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I said, as I walked towards Mei’s dorm door.  _ Mei, I know you’re feeling down, but still… you can’t be like this. But hopefully we can cheer you up quickly so I can get some sleep. _

I knocked on the door three times. For a few moments, those knocks were followed by silence. At that point, I was considering going back to my dorm room to get some sleep and forget this ever happened, but as soon as I turned to leave…

“W-Who is it?” Mei’s voice whimpered from the other side of the door. “If it’s you again Monaca, go away. I don’t want to see you.”

“It’s not Monaca.” I said through the door.  _ Monaca’s probably going to be pissed if I don’t do this… oh what the hell. She needs someone to lean on. And that person’s gotta be me, I guess. _

“J-Josuke?” Mei whimpered once more, before slowly opening the door. I glanced inside and expected to see Mei, her face red with tears. Instead, she looked pale and empty. “What do you want… Josuke?”

“I just want to talk.” I said, “I hope you don’t mind.”

Mei pondered for a bit, before opening the door some more and suggesting I come inside. When I stepped into Mei’s dorm room, the place was wall-to-wall with different anime posters, from promotional artwork to full-blown character art pieces. Shelves were lined with different anime figurines, usually shirtless men and barely clothed women. Her desk had the most writing utensils I had even seen in one place, with a fat stack of blank paper, waiting to be drawn on.

“What is it, Josuke?” Mei sat on her bed. “What are you here for? Did Monaca send you?”

“Look,” I said, not knowing what to say. “I-”

“No, actually.” Mei snapped out of her trance and stared at me angrily. “Get out. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

“Mei…” I stuttered.  _ I know I said I would go back to bed if this happened… but I simply can’t leave her be like this.  _

“Why are you even here?” Mei yelled, throwing a nearby figure at me. “Are you trying to give me therapy? Is that it? You can’t relate to my struggles, Josuke. I lost her… and none of you seemed to care! Not even you! Why?” Mei threw another figure at me. “Just tell me… why did Kaiya have to die?”

I sat down on the bed as her, forcing my way through her attacks. “Mei…” I stammered. “You’re wrong. I did lose someone I loved very much. I know how you feel, I really do. So don’t be a moron and say shit like that.”

“Huh?”

Flashbacks of my sister’s corpse began flashing through my mind again. “The truth is, Mei, you’re not alone in your suffering. You may think no one cares, Mei, but the truth is, we do. And if no one else actually cares, then I will.”

“What are you saying?” Mei yelled, throwing another figure. “You’re just here to make me act happy and shit! You don’t care! You just want me to forget everything that happened yesterday never happened! Fuck you!”

“My sister is dead.” I said directly to her face, as the flashbacks became harsher and harsher.

“A year ago, I experienced something I never thought I would experience again. My sister was murdered. And to this day, I have never found the killer. But when I found my sister’s body, the weeks that followed were true hell.” I was struggling to hold in my tears as I continued. “At that point, I worked alone. I had no one to turn to when I was trying to process what happened. I know your suffering like the back of my hand, Mei. That’s why I’m going to care about your loss so you don’t have to go through hell like I did.”

“Josuke…” Mei stopped her attack. Then, without warning, she launched onto me, balling her eyes out like at the trial. “Waah!” She yelled into my chest. “I miss her, Josuke! I miss her so much! Why? Why did she have to die?”

Reluctantly, I crossed my arms around the sorrowful mangaka. “She didn’t have to die, Mei.” I said. “That’s the cruel and unforgiving reality of this place. No one deserves to die here. But if we don’t stand up to Monogousto and Ruka, as well as the other members of the KPC, then there will be more than just two casualties. Mei… I’m not asking you to do anything. I’m not asking you to forget Kaiya, forgive Heizo, forgive anyone, really, or even come to the meetings. I do, however, ask you to do two things: survive, and when you feel you’re ready, fight with us.”

Mei backed away from me and looked at my face with tears dripping from her eyes. “Okay.” she whispered. “I’ll… I’ll do my best!”

“That’s the spirit, Mei.” I said, getting up from the bed. But as I did that, I heard a small  _ gurgle  _ come from Mei’s stomach.

“Mei…” I asked. “Did you eat today?”

“No… I don’t think I did.” Mei said, getting off her bed. “How about we go get something to eat? A pantry raid, y’know?”

“Sounds good to me.” I said. The two of us walked toward the kitchen, talking about what to eat. I suggested that we just have some fruits and vegetables, as not only were they good for you, there was practically no cooking involved, but Mei wanted a full-blown meal. We both decided to meet in the middle and I would prepare her a salad.  _ Make sure you go light on the olive oil this time…  _ I thought to myself.

But as we passed by the main hall, we heard strange noises coming from the main hall. It sounded like…  _ classical music?  _ Mei seemed to notice too, and we both decided to peer into the main hall. We slowly opened the door that was already slightly ajar and peered in. In the middle of the room was that CD player Taro, Eho, and I found in the classroom on the second floor. But it’s what we heard alongside the music that really perked our interest.

“Oh yes, Monaca…” Jackson slowly grunted. “I- I… yes!”

“I want to be like this forever, Jackson.” Monaca squealed. “Ever since I first met you… you took my heart away.”

“Good to hear we’re both on the same page…” Jackson grunted. “Hopefully… no one sees us like this…”

The classical music and the couple’s grunts grew louder as Mei and I stared at each other of what we just heard.

“Oh god.” Mei said, horrified. “They’re fucking.”

_ So that’s why Monaca shooed me away.  _ I thought.  _ So she could spend time with Jackson like… this. _

“Hang on, did you hear something?” Monaca said, getting up. “Let me… aaaaAAAHHH!” Monaca was only being covered by her clothes, alongside Jackson who had also begun to investigate. “What are you two doing here?”

“We heard the music when we went to go grab something from the kitchen.” I said. “So that’s why you wanted me to help Mei. Shame, Monaca.”

“I just…” Monaca stammered as she hid behind the door, getting back into her clothing. Jackson did the same, as well as turn the CD player off. “...sorry Mei, and you two Josuke. I’m a pretty crummy leader, aren’t I.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have even talked to you anyway, Monaca.” Mei said. “But hold on a minute, when were you two an item? I thought that there might have been some sparks, but damn!” Mei chuckled.

“Also, why the main hall of all places?” I asked. “If you’re going to… well… do that, why not in one of your dorm rooms?”

“Both mine and Monaca’s dorms aren’t soundproofed.” Jackson said. “We didn’t want anyone to hear us… so…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud  _ blarp  _ could be heard, and before long, a flying object suddenly struck Jackson on the face, almost knocking him down. An egg yolk suddenly dripped off of Jackson’s head, as the laughter of someone familiar came into hearing.

“Bull’s eye, motherfuckers!” Shoken laughed, as Genjo walked alongside her with Beaks. “You owe me five bucks when we get out of here, Genjo! I knew that those two were a thing!”

Genjo sighed. “Alright then. I guess you were right.” He looked at Jackson and Monaca with a sharp look. “Next time, use one of your dorms, okay?”

  
“How did you…” Monaca questioned, but Genjo interrupted. “If you’re asking about how we knew, Beaks saw you two. She can recognize the mating rituals of over one hundred species, humans included. With the egg, well Shoken just blew it out of her trumpet.”

“Of fucking course that bird can do that.” Jackson wiped the egg off his head. “It might as well find the cure for cancer at this point.”

“Uh, yeah!” Shoken stuttered. “Anyways, that’s not important. Why the FUCK were you two fucking in the main hall?”

The conversation continued much after that, but at this point I wasn’t bothered to listen to the whole thing, and I was pretty tired anyway. I went back to my dorm room and slept like a log for the rest of the night, drifting away peacefully as feelings of completion, pride, and  _ the corpse of Mikasa  _ **_covered in blood-_ **

“Dammit, not again.” I muttered. “Once I brutally beat her killer to death with my own two hands, and get out of here, I’ll probably need a lot of therapy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't actually planning on adding that last scene with Monaca and Jackson, but fuck it, if it's gonna happen, why not for my favourite ship in Reaping Soul?
> 
> Anyways, FTEs are coming up soon, and I'd like to hear who you want to spend time with, or more specifically, who you want Josuke to spend time with. Vote here! Poll ends March 6th! https://strawpoll.com/soeakzbvs


	21. Possible Impostors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the FTE Chapter everyone! This chapter in particular has the FTEs of Tadakuni and Mei, while the next chapter will have the FTEs of Tetsu and Chimaki. Enjoy!

_ I’m never going to get used to that goddamn alarm clock,  _ I thought as the blaring noise blared throughout the building. Trying to silence the noise from my mind, I quickly changed into new clothes and brushed my hair as I thought about what happened yesterday.

_ Well, I can already think of a few topics I know are going to be brought up this morning,  _ I thought.  _ The second floor, that weird CD, and if Mei, Genjo, or Shoken show up, then what happened between Monaca and Jackson as well. There’s no way that’s simply being swept under the rug. _

I headed out the front door to meet up with everyone else. As I walked outside of the dormitory hall, a loud, booming, ear-piercing voice rang out.

“GOOD MORNING, JOSUKE!” Zenko yelled out as he left his dorm. “Do you wish to walk together to the dining hall together? Of course! Let’s go!” And before I knew it, the two of us were walking together. It was taking forever to conceal my fear of him, as we walked over to the dining hall. Suddenly, he turned to me and tried striking a conversation.

“SO! As the smartest person in this place, what do you think of the CD we heard?” Zenko stared at me with large, beading eyes. I was initially taken aback, as I expected him to try to not mention it. “Huh, I thought you’d never ask.” I said. “Seriously, you seemed pretty pissed off when we all listened to it, but now you’re just mentioning it nonchalantly. Something happened to you overnight?”

“Maybe something did…” Zenko pondered for a moment. “WELL? What do you think?”

“To be honest, Zenko…” I began. “I don’t know. If it’s really real like Ruka says, then whoever Kinji was and whoever was with them is in some way, connected to this killing game. So learning their identities should be important. That’s, of course, if Ruka is telling the truth.”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.” Zenko looked down, looking defeated. “But what about this!? Do you know why Monogousto and Ruka gave it to us in the first place? Even if it’s fake, there has to be a reason for it!”

“That’s true…” I thought about what Zenko could be talking about.  _ It has to be just more than to scare us, right? There’s no way that Ruka just decided to fuck around with us. _

We both arrived at the dining hall and we sat down in our respective spots. Everyone seemed to be already there, with a few exceptions.  _ Huh, Monaca and Jackson aren’t here,  _ I thought.  _ Don’t tell me they’re… or maybe they’re just embarrassed about what happened last night.  _

I sat down to eat my breakfast as we all waited for the others to arrive. Even Taro was here, sipping his coffee in the corner. We all sat and ate in silence as we all waited for the two of them, before someone decided to break the silence.

“Huh, Monaca and Jackson aren’t here.” Tetsu said as he took another bite of his toast. “Usually those two would be the first to arrive, but I guess not today. Should someone check on them?”

“I think they’ll be fine.” Mei smirked as she dug into her fish. “At the very least, might want to give them five more minutes.”

“Huh, Mei.” Eho said as she ate her rice. “You look a lot happier than you did yesterday! That’s great! But something tells me, yes…” Eho put down her bowl and stared intently at her. “Hmm… Mei, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, why?” Mei brushed off Eho’s statement. “Sure I was feeling pretty bad yesterday, but I’m feeling a bit better now. Not one-hundred percent like I was before, but I’m getting better now.”

“Oh, it’s just that…” Eho stopped staring at her and resumed eating. “Sorry, I was just worried about you.”

“Aw, thanks!” Mei said as she dove back into her fish. “But yeah, Monaca and Jackson might not be here for a while.”

“ARE YOU SURE?” Zenko yelled, getting up. “They could be in grave danger! I am sorry, but I must go- aaahh!” As he ran out of the dining hall, he collided heads with Jackson, as he and Monaca arrived in the dining hall.

“Ow! Watch where you’re going, Zenko!” Jackson groaned as he rubbed the top of his head.

“AH! You’re alive!” Zenko looked shocked, with a look of utter joy on his face. “I’m so glad you’re not dead!”

“Wh-why would we be?” Monaca chuckled a bit, looking confused. “Anyway, I’m sorry for keeping you all waiting for us. Let’s get down to planning and strategizing what to do next now that the second floor has opened up.”

“Well, it won’t be the only thing you’ve gone down on recently, Monaca.” Shoken chuckled as she ate her breakfast, as Mei spat out her coffee laughing.

“Hmm? How is that funny?” Monaca looked stern at the two of them. “I’ll give some leniency to Mei because of what happened yesterday, but Shoken, don’t joke around. This is serious.”

“Serious, huh?” Shoken grinned some more. “While most of us were risking life and limb to go inside the second floor, Jackson was risking absolutely nothing to go inside you!”

“H-Hey! That’s…” Jackson stuttered, trying to find the right words. “Look, can we forget about that already?”

“About what?” Tetsu dug into his scrambled eggs. “What are you all- oh.” Tetsu started to laugh. “Really? You two? In front of the cameras and some of us as well?”

“Absolutely dirty, those two are.” Mei joked along. “But hey, this whole place sucks! I don’t blame them for wanting to relieve stress!”

“I guess I was right when I thought you two were fuckers.” Shoken continued, with a smirk on her face. “But not in the way I thought!” 

"I'm not afraid to kick a child!" Jackson yelled, making a ball in his fist. "Just watch me!"

I was watching the chaos unfold from my seat, sipping my coffee as I watched what was essentially an all-out brawl between Jackson, Monaca, Mei, Shoken, and Tetsu. Everyone else was either watching carefully, trying to break up the fight, or not caring at all. Me? I just sat there, hoped that any second, the fight would break up and we could continue with the meeting. But it kept on going. The topics ranged from whether Monaca was considered a whole bunch of words I would rather not repeat, to the ethics of if it was okay to do that in front of Monogousto’s cameras, and more and more people were joining the brawl as I grew even more concerned about it getting so out of hand we have to do another class trial.

But when it looked like that was about to happen, as Jackson readied his fist against Shoken…

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! ALL OF YOU!” Everyone, including me, looked toward the source of the voice in shock. 

“We can talk about Monaca’s and Jackson’s sexual history all we want,” Taro continued, “but it’s not going to defeat Monogousto. Nor will it identify the spies among us, or even provide us a way out. So please, just shut up about this, no one wants to hear it anyway. At least, I don’t. Because there are more important things to discuss.”

“He’s right.” I spoke, sipping the last sip of my coffee. “I personally don’t want to have to do another class trial because of this, so why don’t we stop this nonsense and get back to the important stuff.”   
  


“Ugh…” Jackson looked defeated. “You know what, you two are right. Let’s just stop this, then.”

“So, you admit defeat?” Shoken grinned ear to ear, before Monaca glared at her, signalling her to stop.

“You’re right.” Monaca sat down. “There’s not much we can do in regards to things like escape or Monogousto’s true identity. So unless we find out more information about those topics, I think we should archive them for now.”

“And we still don’t know much about the CD.” I said. “My first theory is that Kinji, the man mentioned on the CD, is some sort of traitor to the mastermind. But in all honesty, that’s all I got. And if he’s dead, then we can’t really do much about that. So I think we should put this topic away for now.”

“Then that just leaves one more thing.” Taro added. “If we find out the answer to this riddle, then maybe we can solve the others as well. A couple of days ago, just before Heizo was executed, he mentioned that the KPC is made up of five members- himself, Ruka, Monogousto, and two others who are acting as spies. There’s just one question I want to pose.”

“Who are they? Out of all of us, who are the spies among us working for the KPC?”

We all sat in silence as we were stunned by the possibility. Despite not knowing each other along, it does seem like we are starting to bond with each other more, and the possibility that not just one, but two of us are working against us… for some people like me, it might not make a difference. But for some others… it’s horrifying to think about.

“It’s a legitimate question.” Taro continued. “Finding out the identities of these people should be our top priority at the moment. We can’t fully trust each other on the off chance that they’re working against us. Anyone is a suspect. You, me, everyone around here, has an equal chance of being one of the two KPC members that are trapping us here.”

“Taro, I know how you feel.” Monaca looked at everyone sadly. “The idea that two people here are our enemies is terrifying to think about But… I don’t think that simply distrusting everyone else is a good idea. I think that we should treat everyone with respect as we always have been and maybe, just maybe, they might leave the KPC and join us instead. Having that information available to us when they’re on our side… it would be a better idea then cracking down on everyone, forcing them to hide further and further away from us.”

Taro looked at his coffee mug for a moment, thinking about what Monaca said. “I know that, as the leader, you just want to trust everyone and hope for the best. But the world isn’t like that, Monaca. Your solution could have them think that they’re the spies, but instead, they turn around and betray us like they’re already doing. It’s human nature to always go the easy route, and that’s exactly what the spies will do. The only way to know their identities is if we give them no other options but to give us the information. And besides… we can’t exactly eliminate the fact that you might be a spy yourself, Monaca.”

“What the hell did you just say about her?” Jackson yelled. “Say that again, and I’ll-”

“Stop that, Jackson.” Monaca placed her hand in front of Jackson’s face, signalling him to stop. “Taro is right. I have no evidence to prove that I’m not working for the KPC. The thing is, that that applies to all of us. You said it yourself, Taro. ‘Anyone is a suspect. You, me, everyone around here has an equal chance of being the two KPC members that are trapping us here.’ Those were your exact words, Taro. I don’t think you’re changing your mind on that.”

“... Fine.”

“Huh?” Monaca looked surprised at Taro’s short statement.

“We’ll go with your plan for now. Treating everyone like you always did in the hopes that they betray the KPC. All I’m saying is that it’s not going to work.”

“You sound confident in that statement.” Chimaki spoke up. “I stand with Monaca’s plan. Even if you are right, there is no evidence to prove that it won’t work.”

“But there is, actually.” Taro continued. “We listened to it yesterday, to be precise.”

“Are you talking about that creepy CD?” Tadakuni spoke up. “How does that prove anything?”

“Let me explain.” Taro began. “The CD was an audio clip of someone named Kinji being killed for betraying what we can assume to be Monogousto, or someone else tied to the killing game. Of course, the spies would automatically know that, but they also now know something else:  _ betray the organization, and you will die.” _

“EH?” Zenko yelled. “So that’s what that weird CD was for?”

“Exactly, Zenko. Ten points for you.” Taro continued. “The purpose of the CD was to scare not all of us, but the spies. It’s a statement from the masterminds themselves, showing them that they cannot get out of this, even if they wished. Of course, that does mean that at one point, they wanted to betray the KPC. But with this CD, we know one thing for sure. Unless they happen to have a death wish,  **_the spies are our enemy, no matter what.”_ **

“If you want to try and win them over by just treating them nicely, Monaca, be my guest. I can’t exactly stop you, but I personally will investigate on my own. I will find the spies, and I will find the answers we’re looking for. It doesn’t matter if they want to join us or are insistent on being traitors, but I will find them. And if any of you try to stop me, I’ll just take it as a sign as the KPC interfering and mark them as a spy, no matter what.”

“Taro…!” I tried to yell at him, but I quickly realized that I couldn’t stop him. As he said that, he walked out of the dining hall, with a determined look on his face.  _ Looks like we can’t stop him… but I can’t say he’s exactly wrong. Only death awaits those who cross over to our side, so I guess he’s just going to drag them here himself. _

I walked back to my room, wondering what to do with myself. Hours passed as I tried to figure out some of the mysteries presented to us, including the identities of the spies. To no avail, of course, as every possible answer seemed like a dead end.

“Might as well explore the second floor some more…” I said out loud to myself. “Maybe the pharmacy’s finally open. Would be nice to slip sleeping drugs into everyone’s breakfast, sneak into their rooms and find out which are the spies.”

_ Dammit, what the hell was that idea? Although… I’ll put that on the backburner for now. The second floor definitely needs a more thorough search, so I’ll deal with that now.  _ I walked upstairs to the second floor to be presented with a very closed, very locked, pharmacy gate.

“How long will it take for this to open?” I said. “I thought Monogousto would be done by now… maybe he’s just doing fuck-all until he gets bored and presents us with a motive.”

I decided to walk around the second floor some more, and when I stood in front of the tool shed’s door, I opened the door quietly as I peeked into the room.

_ And there… I saw… I… saw… _

_ Tadakuni… _

_ Ohashi…  _

_ the Ultimate Carpenter… _

_ … _

_...using a wooden saw to carve out a block of wood. _

“Josuke!” Tadakuni yelled as he noticed me in his peripheral vision. “Come on in and tell me what you think! Put on some safety goggles first, though. Don’t want sawdust infecting your eyes!”

I did as he said and grabbed the nearest pair of safety goggles and put them on. It was hard to get them over my hat, but in the end, I successfully managed to put them on. “What do you waaaaaaaaa-” I was absolutely stunned by what I saw in the center of the room, on top of the display table. It was a table, no doubt, but it had intricate decoration and almost smooth surfaces. It was so ornamentally fancy, I could have swore it was an antique. I usually don’t get amazed by stuff like this,  _ but god damn, he isn’t the Ultimate Carpenter for nothing, I guess. _

“Whaddya think!” Tadakuni leaned on it, admiring his finished product. “Took me all night, but I’m glad I did it! Now… well… huh, I never thought what I’d actually do with this.”

“I’m impressed, Tadakuni.” I said, staring at the fancy table. “You really know how to create impressive looking furniture.”

“It’s my specialty!” Tadakuni laughed some more. “In fact, want to hear a story about this table?”

I was about to say no, but I realized that I didn’t really have anything else to do other then inspect the second floor the 343rd time, so I said “Sure thing, I have time to kill.”

“Alright then!” Tadakuni bellowed. “Listen good, because I’m only gonna say it once!”

“When I was around five years old, I started creating wooden furniture with the help of my dad. He would do the dangerous stuff like cutting the wood and using the power tools and all that, but I would plan out everything, choose the wood and tools, and use the finishing stain to give it the colour it needs. But at one point, I went against my dad’s instructions and used the power tools myself. I-”

“Wait, stop stop.” I said. “You used dangerous power tools that are still known to injure and even kill adult humans to this day at five years old… and didn’t die?”

“Exactly!” Tadakuni laughed again. “Though I did get a few scars here and there. I actually still have one on my chest!” Tadakuni started pulling up his shirt. ‘Wanna see?”

“No thanks… I’m good.” I said. Tadakuni pulled down his shirt looking disappointed, but still resumed his story.

“Alright, so I used a bunch of power tools to make my new creation. Scroll saws, table saws, power sanders, you name it, I used it and probably hurt myself on it once. But after all of that was said and done, I finished it. The best looking table everyone has ever seen. It functioned perfectly, fitting in almost every place imaginable without it looking out of place. It took so much time, blood, sweat, and tears, but when all was said and done, I created my first piece of furniture completely on my own.”

“And… how exactly did your dad react?” I questioned. “Surely he would have been terrified about the fact that you apparently cut yourself multiple times.”

“To be honest, I don’t know how my dad reacted.” Tadakuni said. “I was knocked out at the hospital at that time, so I guess I’ll never know.”

“I’m sorry, you were at the hospital?”

“Yeah, apparently one of the table saw’s rotor blades infected me, and I had to be rushed to hospital. My dad was yelling at me for being irresponsible about the tools, but in the end, he decided to properly teach me how they all work and drill in my head how to use them safely. And I’ve been creating furniture of my own to this day.”

“That’s… quite the story, Tadakuni.” I said. “But what does the table have to do with it?”

“You see this table?” Tadakuni pointed toward it. “This is an almost exact replica of what I made all those years ago. It’s almost nostalgic in a way…”

I was about to ask him how he was able to create such an amazing piece of woodworking at five years old, but considering what he just told me, I classified it as ‘Tadakuni being Tadakuni’ and brushed it off.

In the end, we parted ways. Although it was more like me desperately trying to escape Tadakuni’s grasp as I ran out of the tool shed with him holding a saw in his hand. I managed to get to my dorm room, praying that no one, especially Taro, saw that.

_ What to do now?  _ I thought to myself.  _ I don’t want to deal with Tadakuni again right now, and I doubt that if I tried to look for more clues, any would turn up. I have nothing to do… I guess. _

_ Actually,  _ I thought again.  _ There is one thing I need to do. _

I walked out of my dorm room, looking both ways as I did so, hoping that Tadakuni wasn’t there. Slowly, I walked towards Mei’s dorm room and knocked on her door, hoping that she’s in a much better mood now. After a few knocks, Mei’s dorm room slowly opened, revealing a very confused Mei behind said door.

“Josuke? What are you doing here?” Mei said, staring back at me. “I’m not feeling sad or whatever, so why are you here?”

“Just wanted to check to see how you were doing since yesterday.” I said. “May I come in?”

“Umm…” Mei looked shocked for a moment, before saying “One moment, please.” and slamming the door.

After a few moments, Mei reopened the door with a grin on her face, gesturing for me to come in. I did, and we sat on her bed together.

“Mei… how are you doing?” I asked. “You do seem better now, which is great, but how are you actually doing?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” she said. “It’s just… I don’t think I can handle it.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

Mei reached under her bed and ruffled around a bit to pull out a drawn picture of… a man and a woman… having sex.

“Hey!” I said, looking at what she pulled out. “Why do you have that under your bed?”

“What do you- oh!” Mei looked at the picture and immediately threw it back under. “You did not need to see that! That’s not what I’m talking about!” She reached under her bed once more and pulled out another sheet of paper. This time, she looked at it herself to make sure it was the right one, and handed me the sheet. It looked like an unfinished manga page, with one of the characters looking brutally wounded, spouting the words “Take care… okay?” as they laid there.

“What… am I looking at?” I questioned. “How does this relate to how you’re doing?”

“It’s a page of a chapter I was supposed to submit next month.” Mei said. “I didn’t get to start it before all of this happened, so in my spare time, I spent it drawing the next chapter. The thing is, I was supposed to kill off a character that I really enjoyed writing, but after everything that’s happened… I… I don’t think I have the strength to do it.”

“I see.” I said. “I don’t know much about the creative process, especially for someone who has to write it as it’s being published, but I already know that if you’re this far, you can’t turn back on killing them.”

“Writing and drawing manga has been one of my stress relievers ever since we got here.” Mei said, staring back at the unfinished manga page. “You’re right, if I don’t kill off this character, then I can’t continue the plans I have in mind.”

“Then you have two options.’ I said. “Option one is to get it over with so you can continue doing what you love. Option two is to wait until you’re ready to write it. The choice is yours.”

Mei looked back at the unfinished manga page and sat at her desk. She picked up a pencil and began drawing some more. “I’ll do it.” she said. “Thanks, Josuke.”

I left her dorm room and promptly went back to my own to rest for a bit until the evening meeting. “I only have around an hour… might rest for a bit.”

As the hour passed, many things ran through my mind. “Who are the spies?” I said out loud. “If they are among us, then who are they? Could Monaca or even Taro be one of them? Even Tadakuni, Mei, or someone else? But even if I don’t know now, eventually we will find out who they are.”

The hour finally passed and it was time to go to the dining hall for the evening meeting. I quickly looked around to see if Tadakuni wasn’t meaning it was safe for me to come out of the dorm. When I arrived at the dining hall, I was greeted…

...with an unbelievable sight.

“UGH!” Zenko yelled as he punched into the side of Jackson. “You think you can hurt me? The king of wrestling? The orange thunder? You make me laugh!”

Jackson hurled back by kicking Zenko straight in the head. “I’ll show you my power!” he screamed. “Prepare to bow down to my mighty might!”

“YOU BASTARD!” Zenko yelled again, going in for another punch. “How about this! I’ll kill you right then and here, and I will show you how weak you are!”

“Not gonna happen if I kill you first!” Jackson yelled as he charged toward Zenko, ready to fully tackle him. “Come and take it- oh! Josuke! What are you doing here?” The two brawlers suddenly turned their head toward where I was standing, dumbfounded at what I was witnessing.

“What the hell is going on here?” I said. “Why are you two trying to kill each other?”

“Ummm…” Jackson scratched the back of his head as he sat back down. “You see… the two of us were sparring. That’s all.”

“Sparring?” I yelled. “You two were going to kill each other! How is that ‘sparring’?”

“Oh, we might have gotten out of control.” Jackson replied. “Trust us, we really weren't going to kill each other.”

“EXACTLY!” Zenko screamed. “Why would I do something as foolish as kill Jackson right then and here? I don’t even kill people anyway, nor do I actually have the strength to! I knock people out, not kill!”

_ The more Zenko talks, the less I understand him,  _ I thought to myself.  _ Regardless, that match looked pretty deadly if you ask me. _

As Zenko was getting ready to say another point, people started walking inside the dining hall. Monaca, Genjo, Eho, Kioshi, and Taro sat down at one of the tables as Jackson and Zenko sat in the middle, with sweat dripping from every pore.

“Jackson! Zenko!” Monaca gasped, seeing how tired and sweaty those two were. “Are you both alright? You both look exhausted, what happened?”

“Oh... “ Jackson said, trying to stay awake as the tiredness from his muscles pulled him closer and closer to falling asleep. “Zenko and I… spent the day exercising. That’s all.”

“YEAH!” Zenko yelled, having just as much energy as usual. “Jackson and I spent the rest of the evening sparring each other to get stronger! It tired him out really quickly, but not me!”

“You two were sparring?” Concern started raising in Monaca’s voice. “You two could have been hurt badly! Please, there’s no need to fight each other, especially in a place like this!”

“We’re fine, though.” Jackson groaned. “It’s not like we’re gonna kill each other. Both of us knew what we were doing, and there’s no way we would intentionally kill the other.”

“Still… it’s dangerous, you know?” Eho spoke out loud from the corner of the room. “Even if you didn’t die, you two could have been seriously hurt!”   
  


“Hey, what’s going on?” Tadakuni said as the rest started to pile in the room. “You two okay?”

“They were simply fighting each other for their own personal ‘exercise’.” Genjo commented, as he fed Beaks some seeds. “Personally, I would advise against such actions, especially in a place like this.”

“Alright, alright, fine.” Jackson grumbled as he got up. “No more fighting each other because I might get hurt and die or some bullshit. But let me just say this, no matter what happens, I’m not gonna die.”

“You better not!” Tetsu yelled from across the room. “I don’t wanna go back to that trial room… oh and I don’t want anyone to become a murderer again.”

“Looks like someone has their priorities straight.” Shoken sarcastically commented. “You’re more concerned about actually having to do some legwork then one of us committing murder.”

“Well… I…!” Tetsu looked defeated as he slumped back into his chair.

“Well, let's begin the meeting, then.” I said. “First thing to ask everyone, any clues about anything? The spies? A way out? Monogousto’s identity? The purpose of this killing game?”

The group of ultimates was silent as it became apparent they had not found a single clue. Even Taro, who had promised to search for the spies no matter what, simply looked away.

“Even you, Taro?” Chimaki commented, as Taro shook his head.

“I haven’t made any progress on that yet.” Taro said. “It seems like this will be a lot harder than I thought… but I will find them.”

“So today was a bust, then.” Shoken groaned. “We spend all this fucking time with even more questions to solve and somehow we made no fucking progress whatsoever?”

“That seems to be the case, unfortunately.” Genjo commented. “In any case, it’s getting late, so I think we should all have dinner and go to our dorms to sleep.”

We did as Genjo commented and started making dinner. Eho suggested she make dinner, and what we got was a small meal, consisting of a small beef patty with steamed vegetables and rice on the side. It was surprisingly good, as Eho commented that it was a dish that she commonly served at the homeless shelter she worked at. Most commented on how well the dish tasted, with relatively few complaints aside from Tetsu’s beef patty being extremely overcooked. After that, we all decided to go to bed after Monogousto’s annoyingly loud night time announcement blared out throughout the school.

As I doze off to sleep, I pondered about what will happen tomorrow.  _ Today sucked, but will we actually make some semblance of progress tomorrow? Only time will tell, I guess. _

I didn’t even notice it at first, but soon, I was fast asleep.

  
  
  


\--------------------------------

“It’s curious, isn’t it?” I said to Monogousto, as we were observing the security footage from the last couple of days. “Things are already getting out of hand. [REDACTED] forgot to finish setting up the pharmacy, meaning we had to close it for a couple of days. Even those two… they fucked right in front of our cameras!”

“Ruka, calm down.” Monogousto said to me. “In the end, they are teenagers. They are Ultimates, all sixteen of them, including you, but they are still teenagers. Though it’s more like fourteen, since two are already dead…”

“I guess you’re right.” I sighed. “Say, [REDACTED] should be finished with the pharmacy preparations, so how about we open it up now?”

“No.”

“Huh?” I asked. “Why not? It’s ready now!”

“Yes, but…” Monogousto pondered for a moment. “...you see, I think that for the time being, we should leave it closed.”

‘Why?” I asked again, but then I remembered what the two of us saw in that footage. “Oh… I see. You think it’ll make things more interesting for the eventual trial, correct?”

“Correct, Ruka. Ten points for you.” Monogousto said. “At this point, if [REDACTED] continues with their actions, another class trial is inevitable. It’s a shame that they of all people would become the killer, but we don’t exactly have the authority to stop them.”

“But we technically do.” I said. “They’re a traitor not just to us, but to the other students as well. We can do what we want, those regulations are for show anyway.”

“They are not.” Monogousto said. “The regulations are the backbone of the project. If they are broken by either side, then the plan could fail. I do not approve of the fact that we have a traitor to the KPC, but when they eventually get caught by the others…”

“We’ll deal with them that way.” I said. “Honestly, I just want to execute them now, but a trial would definitely be much more interesting. Plus, this project will accelerate much more than we initially thought.”

“But there is one more curious thing.” Monogousto said to me. “I wanted to bring this up with you earlier, but I didn’t want to mention it around [REDACTED] and [REDACTED].”

“I’m all ears.”

“It was during the end of the class trial.” Monogousto began. “Josuke, when delivering everything that happened in the case, was spot on with what happened. Except for that one thing.”

“What are you-” I was confused by Monogousto’s statement, but then realized. “Oh! You mean that… why didn’t Heizo say anything?”

“I mean, it was the logical conclusion to come to that idea, even if it was wrong.” Monogousto said. “I’m more confused about the fact that Heizo didn’t correct Josuke’s closing argument. But oh well, nothing we can really do much about it now.”

“Yeah.” I said. “But it’s weird that everyone simply agreed with the reasoning. Like, what kind of reasoning is ‘Heizo knocked Taro out to conceal the shattering glass’? Heizo never knocked him out! When he found Taro, he was already unconscious!”

“It’s also curious about who the true culprit of that specific part was.” Monogousto commented. “After all, if they succeeded in killing Taro as they may have planned, then that wouldn’t be their first kill. They had already killed Mikasa Suda prior to that, after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A mastermind, two spies, and a sister killer... man, Josuke's got a lot of enemies now.


End file.
